Jackson republicans extend lead in victory as ballot counting winds down — election-mailin-ballot

JACKSON, NJ—Opposition candidates held out hope to defeat Jackson Republican Club President Mordy Burnstein in the 2024 election, banking on late mail-in ballots and provisional ballots, but they have run out of ballots to count.

Burnstein has been declared the winner of the election, which was a tight race between himself and social worker Amanda Trombetta. The Jackson Republicans have officially swept their opponents, with just a few dozen outstanding ballots remaining.

It won’t be enough.

Burnstein’s lead expanded to 225 votes as Ocean County election officials counted the final ballots on Tuesday.

Burnstein now has 9,494 votes compared to Trombetta’s 9,2699 votes. Trombetta finished as the fourth-highest vote-getter in the three-way election.

While some are casting lifelong registered Democrat Hope Drew, now a Republican, as a ‘spoiler candidate’, Drew received more votes than Trombetta’s running mates, Elenor Hannum and her husband Eric Hannum.

“I want to thank the people of Jackson for their vote, and I am honored to continue serving as your councilman,” Burnstein said. “This was a tight race, and I want to thank all of our opponents and my running mates, Nino Borrelli and Giuseppe Palmeri, for the hard work everyone put into the process.”

After the provisional ballots were counted on Tuesday, 209 were for Burnstein, while Trombetta received just 99. Drew received 109, and the Hannums received 88 and 75, respectively.

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