Morristown Primary Elections Set, Mayoral Debate In The Works

MORRISTOWN, NJ — Now that the deadline passed for candidates to get names on the ballot, a debate for the Morristown mayoral election is in the works. Mayor Tim Dougherty and challenger Esperanza P. Field have both expressed interest, according to the League of Women Voters of the Morristown Area.

The local League of Women voters hopes to hold forums for competitive races in Morris County, according to the League's Debbie McComber.

"We have not officially invited the Morristown mayoral candidates to a debate, but we know that they are willing," McComber said.

Dougherty and Field are both running as Democrats. No Republicans filed petitions to run for mayor.

On the town council side, the primary will go uncontested as it stands. That's because the petitions of two potential candidates — Kristi Dimogerodakis and Shaan Patel — were denied.

Dimogerodakis spoke about the town's decision in a Facebook post.

"They claimed that 2 seniors who struggle with penmanship that their signatures are illegible so they disqualified them, dropping my number below what was required!"

Town Council President Stefan Armington said some signatures on their petitions "were either not from Morristown, were not registered Democrats or were illegible."

The ruling sets up an uncontested council primary election of Toshiba Foster, David Silva and Nathan Umbriac. All are running on Dougherty's ticket. Like the mayoral election, no one filed to run as a Republican.

New Jersey's primary elections take place June 8. Patch will provide more information on candidates as the election approaches.

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