By John Soltes / Editor in Chief

(Nov. 11, 2009, 9:45 a.m.) — On Tuesday, Nov. 3, voters throughout the Garden State exercised their democratic right to choose the officials who would lead New Jersey in the coming years. In the South Bergen area, the results were mixed, but largely favored Republicans.

EAST RUTHERFORD

In East Rutherford, not one Democrat proved victorious. Chris Christie, who defeated incumbent Jon S. Corzine statewide, earned 48.9 percent of the votes in the borough. Corzine trailed at 45.7 percent and Chris Daggett, the Independent candidate, came in a distant third with 5.4 percent. All of these numbers are based on unofficial vote tallies.

One of the few local races where Democrats prevailed was in the state Assembly contest in the 36th Legislative District. Incumbents Fred Scalera and Gary Schaer defeated their Republican challengers, Carmen Pio Costa and Don Diorio. But in South Bergen, Schaer and Scalera were not always the top choice.

In East Rutherford, the four candidates split the vote: Pio Costa (25.5 percent), Diorio (25.4 percent), Scalera (25.1 percent) and Schaer (24 percent).

On the county level, East Rutherford favored Republicans John Driscoll Jr. (27.2 percent) and Robert Hermansen (26.6 percent) over Democrats Julie O’Brien (23.9 percent) and Vernon Walton (22.4 percent), a trend that seemed to be indicative of the Meadowlands region.

East Rutherford Republican Councilmen George Perry and Jeffrey Lahullier ran unopposed and claimed easy victory.

Approximately 51.8 percent of borough residents voted “yes” to the state public question concerning Green Acres funding. Little more than 48 percent said “no.” The measure won state approval. Of the 4,693 eligible voters in East Rutherford, 1,968, or 41.9 percent, showed up to the polls.

WOOD-RIDGE

In Wood-Ridge, normally one of the more left-leaning boroughs in South Bergen, residents split their votes on Election Day between the red and blue teams.

Christie took the borough with 48.9 percent of the vote (Corzine earned 44.5 percent), while Schaer and Scalera defeated Pio Costa and Diorio by small margins. At the county level, Wood-Ridge residents chose the Republicans for the freeholder board, but the margin was slimmer than a runway fashion model (O’Brien trailed Hermansen by four votes).

In the race for council, where the two Democratic incumbents won, the sole Republican challenger fared better than last year.

Forrest Elliott, the Republican, earned 27.4 percent of the vote last year. This year he climbed in the ranks and took in 30.1 percent. But it still was not enough to unseat any of the Democrats on the all-Democrat council.

Wood-Ridge voters also voted “no” to the state question (944 to 914 votes).

CARLSTADT

In Carlstadt, one of the more right-leaning boroughs in South Bergen, Christie won by a large margin over Corzine (51.2 percent to 41.9 percent). Daggett earned 6.1 percent of the vote.

Pio Costa and Diorio defeated Scalera and Schaer in the borough, while Driscoll and Hermansen trounced O’Brien and Walton.

Republican Councilmen Craig Lahullier and Robert Zimmermann easily defeated Democrat challengers Paula Dalton and Luis Venegas. The majority of Carlstadt voters said “no” to the public question.

LYNDHURST

Approximately 43 percent of Lyndhurst voters showed up to the polls, even though no presidencies were being decided or commissioners being picked. Voters largely went for Christie, Scalera, Pio Costa, Driscoll and Hermansen. By a narrow margin, Lyndhurst voted “yes” to the public question.

RUTHERFORD

Rutherford was the only local municipality to choose Corzine over Christie. Voters in the Borough of Trees also went for Scalera and Schaer, but switched back to the Republicans (Driscoll and Hermansen) at the county level. The council race is currently undecided, with the results too close to call. Republican incumbent John Genovesi clearly won one seat, while Democratic incumbent Maura Keyes clearly lost her seat. The race for second place between Todd Hennessey (R) and John Parnofiello (D) appears to favor Parnofiello at this point, but the results are not official.

Approximately 52 percent of the electorate turned up to vote, one of the highest in South Bergen. Voters chose “yes” to the public question.

NORTH ARLINGTON

North Arlington residents chose Christie over Corzine, and split their allegiance for state Assembly, choosing Scalera and Pio Costa. Driscoll and Hermansen took the county level in the borough, while local Republican challengers unseated the two Democratic incumbents. North Arlington residents overwhelmingly said “no” to the public question.

STATE ASSEMBLY

Schaer and Scalera won an easy victory over Diorio and Pio Costa in a district that includes portions of Bergen, Essex and Passaic counties.

Scalera earned the most number of votes out of the more than 75,000 cast. Earning 29.4 percent of the grab bag, Scalera boasted 22,226 tally marks.

Schaer followed with 27.8 percent, or 21,060 votes. Pio Costa came in third with 21.6 percent or 16,360 votes. Finally, Diorio earned 21.2 percent, or 16,005 votes.

The victories for the local Democrats were not only sizable, but also a larger victory compared to their last campaign in 2007.

In that previous election, also against Pio Costa and Diorio, Scalera and Schaer earned a few less tenths of a percentage point than they did this election. One of the largest differences is that in 2007 approximately 50,000 residents in the 36th Legislative District showed up to the polls.

For this Election Day, that number jumped to an unofficial total of 75,651. A tight race for governor is largely seen as the reasoning for the spike in turnout.

BERGEN COUNTY

County residents chose Corzine, though by a slim margin of 48.2 percent to 46.6 percent.

Driscoll and Hermansen, who won every municipality in South Bergen, went on to take the county. Driscoll earned 26 percent; Hermansen earned 25.49 percent. O’Brien followed with 24.8 percent and Walton with 23.7 percent.