HOBOKEN – 4th Ward Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer has conceded the mayoral election to At-Large Councilman Peter Cammarano.
"This morning, I called Mayor-elect Peter Cammarano and congratulated him on his hard-fought victory," Zimmer said in an email to supporters. "I have officially ended my mayoral campaign, but our campaign to make positive change for Hoboken has just begun."
Outspent by a candidate who had statewide Democratic Party financial connections, Zimmer lost to Cammarano by 161 votes.
Her three riunning mates won their runoff, however, which means that the 4th Ward Councilwomannow conceivably heads a six-person majority on the council, which includes 2nd Ward Councilwoman Beth Mason, 5th Ward Councilman Peter Cunningham, and Zimmer running mates and council people-elect Ravi Bhalla, Carol Marsh and Dave Mello.
"Given the closeness of the race and anecdotal evidence of serious improprieties, many have advised me to pursue an election challenge," said Zimmer, who won on the machines but lost the provisional and absentee ballot counts. "I gave much thought to doing so, but I have decided against it. This election was extremely divisive and an election challenge would literally tear our town apart.
"My attorney has advised me that the margin of victory – 161 votes – was large enough to make overturning the result extremely unlikely, even if we could provethe improprietiesoccured," Zimmer added.
