Morris Township, Morris Plains Voters Overwhelmingly Back Lonegan, Booker

Morris Township and Morris Plains residents voted in line with citizens throughout the state Tuesday in selecting Newark Mayor Cory Booker and former Bogata Mayor Steve Lonegan as the candidates in the Oct. 16 special Senate election.

In preliminary tallies for the Democratic nomination, Booker received more than 60 percent of the vote, far more than his nearest challenger, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6), who received about 20 percent. U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-12) trailed with about 15 percent and state Assembly speaker Sheila Oliver (D-34) had less than 5 percent.

In the Republican primary, Lonegan skated to an easy victory over Somerset County doctor Alieta Eck. Lonegan collected about 90 percent of the vote to Eck’s 10 percent.

For the full story on this election, go to this Patch article. 

Turnout was slow at the polls with a rush at lunch and again after people got off of work.

However, only about 11.3 percent of Morris Township registered voters came out to the polls—23 of 25 precincts have been counted. Here’s a look at the voting breakdown:

Republican (752 total votes):

• Steve Lonegan – 587 votes; 78 percent
• Alieta Eck – 157 votes; 21 percent
• 8 write ins

Democrat (1,070):

• Cory Booker – 720 votes; 67.3 percent
• Rush Holt – 221 votes; 21 percent
• Frank Pallone Junior – 107 votes; 10 percent
• Sheila Oliver  – 21 votes; 2 percent
• 1 write in

Over in Morris Plains, only about 8.7 percent of registered voters came out to the polls—6 of 8 precincts have been counted. Here’s a look at the voting breakdown:

Republican (176 total votes):

• Steve Lonegan – 121 votes; 69 percent
• Alieta Eck – 55 votes; 31 percent

Democrat (182):

• Cory Booker – 104 votes; 57 percent
• Rush Holt – 44 votes; 13 percent
• Frank Pallone Junior – 23 votes; 24 percent
• Sheila Oliver  – 11 votes; 6 percent

The election results can be found here. 

Check out how Morristown residents voted in this Patch article.