Five write-ins take out incumbents in Milford

MILFORD — Mad Magazine asked its readers to vote for Alfred E. Neuman as a write-in candidate for every presidential election from 1960 to 1980 with slogans like "You could do worse — and you already have!" And: "There are bigger idiots running for office!"

Write-in candidates are no longer a joke — at least not in Milford, where all five write-ins running for five open seats won on Tuesday. They swept aside three incumbents running for re-election.

Borough meetings have become more contentious lately, with the public often at odds with the board over whether businesses could put out sandwich board signs or offer live musical entertainment.

"I ran on a simple idea that Milford should celebrate entrepreneurship, creativity and individuality — and not regulate them out of existence," said write-in candidate David Wineberg after the election. "That leaves a lot of room for making Milford more relaxed, dynamic, fun, and a real destination."

The victorious write-ins running for four-year terms won the following tallies, according to Nadine Manzoni at the Pike County Board of Elections:

Anette Haar 223
Patrick Beck 211

Meagen Kameen 197
Adriane Wendell 190

The two-year term was unopposed:

David Wineberg 195
The incumbents' vote tallies are as follows:

Nick May 157
Doug Jacobs 124
Robert Zaruba 114

Against the oddsWrite-in candidates rarely win. They are often lodged as protest votes — sometimes for ineligible or even fictional people — by citizens who don't like the choices offered by regular political parties.

The election has local residents wondering if there ever was a case where so many write-ins bested incumbents.

"Wow," said Old Resident, the handle of a regular commenter on the Courier's website. "Five write-ins that's got to be a record....That should be a message for all the other elected that you can only take things so far and the public will give the boot to them. Change is on the way and hope it is the right direction and you can bet your bippie all those who were elected better be paying attention."

Another regular commenter, Ric Hill, wrote: "We have just been through proof the electoral process can work even when it is so stacked against the voter. What happened in Milford Borough was nothing short of a bloodless revolution with the ramparts looking like voting machines and battle lines looking like polling personnel. I didn't win. So I don't get to ask for a recount. So we now have to see how these new bosses turn out."