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ATLANTIC CITY — Candidates backed by Mayor Marty Small now have a slight lead in the 2nd and 4th wards’ Democratic primary, after all Election Day machine votes have been tallied.
Results are unofficial and will be updated. An unknown number of mail-in ballots are yet to come in, and will be accepted until June 12 as long as they are postmarked by June 6.
Those mail-in ballots could make the difference in the 2nd Ward, where Democratic Councilwoman LaToya Dunston, who ran off the county line, now trails financial services company owner Viana “Vivi” Bailey by just 264 to 260.
Incumbent 4th ward Democratic Councilman MD Hossain Morshed, who is facing federal criminal charges and ran off the county line, trails George “Animal” Crouch by a bigger margin of 202 to 179.
Both Dunston and Morshed had been in the lead when just early voting and mail-in ballots had been counted.
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Dunston was recently censured by the Atlantic City Democratic Committee, along with Democratic At-Large Councilmen George Tibbitt and Bruce Weekes, for supporting a Republican for county commissioner last year. All three are Small critics.
They supported the Republican rather than Democratic incumbent Atlantic County Commissioner Ernest Coursey, who is Small’s Chief of Staff.
Morshed had been a Small ally, until the county Democratic Committee refused to put Morshed on the county line because of the federal charges. Small supported Crouch in the 4th Ward primary, but did not ask for Morshed’s resignation.
Morshed
All six ward seats are up this year, and Democrats are so dominant in the city that the primary will effectively choose the winner in most wards.
Small critics on Council — all Democrats other than lone Republican Councilman Jesse Kurtz — have been a thorn in Small’s side.
Morshed’s defection to the anti-Small camp gave them a 5-4 majority on city council, which recently voted down the 2023 budget, in spite of it containing a property tax decrease.
The state, however, is expected to approve the budget June 14 without council approval, as it can under the 2016 state takeover of the city.
Dunston
About 6,000 mail-in ballots were received countywide as of 8 p.m. Tuesday, said Atlantic County Board of Elections Chair Lynn Caterson.
In the 3rd Ward, Council Vice President Kaleem Shabazz has a comfortable lead of 371 to 103 for his challenger, Nashir Sheik.
In the 5th Ward, incumbent Councilman Muhammad “Anjum” Zia had a commanding lead of 253 to 42 for his challenger, Rizwan Khan Malik.
And in the 6th Ward, the only one without a Democratic incumbent, building contractor Geoffrey Dorsey had 223 votes to restauranteur John C. Exadaktilos’ 128.
Running unopposed in Ward 1 was incumbent City Council President Aaron “Sporty” Randolph.
In the wards where they ran, Republican candidates ran unopposed. No Republicans filed petitions to run in the 2nd or 3rd wards.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Morshed in March with falsifying voter registrations, making false statements to the FBI about interactions with prospective voters and submitting false unemployment benefits claims with the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Morshed got the support of the city’s Democratic committee in his reelection bid at its March meeting, but after the federal charges were announced, Atlantic County Democratic Chair Michael Suleiman called for Morshed’s resignation. Then he replaced him with Crouch on the county line of endorsed candidates.
Crouch is the vice president of the Atlantic City Dolphins youth football league.
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