On Election Day, this NJ town offers a political postcard of America | Mike Kelly
Small towns have a unique ability to speak many truths to power on Election Day.
Think of them as postcards from the edge of a whirling political maelstrom.
So it was with voters on the streets of Nutley, New Jersey, a 3.4-square-mile hamlet of 27,360 people and few pretentions that sits at the vortex of a voter-rich landscape that includes some of the state’s densely populated Bergen, Passaic and Essex counties.
Unlike New Jersey as a whole, which has become a Democratic stronghold largely on the strength of voters in northern and central parts of the state, Nutley has emerged as a “purple town” during most of the last two decades. Here, voters tend to flip-flop amid the pingpong of American politics. Sometimes a Republican red tide rolls strongly in Nutley's elections. Sometimes the town flips to the blue Democrats.
Barack Obama lost Nutley in 2008 by 7%, then won it in 2012 by 3%. Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton in 2016 by 3%, then lost to Joe Biden 2020 by 3%.
In the 2017 New Jersey governor’s race, Democrat Phil Murphy clobbered Republican Kim Guadagno by nearly 1,000 votes. Last year, Murphy won reelection statewide, but he lost Nutley to Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli by 557 votes.
On Tuesday, in what is viewed as one of the most consequential American midterm elections in decades, the talk on the streets of Nutley was not necessarily pro-Republican or pro-Democrat — or red or blue or purple.
In Nutley, the electoral tone was angry.
People are fed up.
“Where’s the country going to? It’s going down the toilet,” said Matt Turner, 59, a contractor specializing in window installing.
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Just after 9 a.m., Turner took a break from his job and headed for a voting station at the Nutley Parks and Recreation Department on Bloomfield Avenue.
“I think America is going to implode if it keeps going like this,” he said after casting a ballot. “With the policies in place now, we’re going to end up a third world country.”
Even a few so-called “Trumpers” in Nutley said that while they are not ashamed they voted for the former president in 2016 and 2020, they wish he would step aside for new blood and drop plans for another campaign for the White House in 2024.
“We don’t need this Trump baggage anymore,” said Denis Koslecki, 62, a retired Newark firefighter who now installs fire sprinklers. “I was a huge Trump supporter. But I don’t want the guy for another four years telling me how great he is.”
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Steve Rogers, the former Republican town commissioner and Nutley police officer who served on Trump’s national campaign advisory board during the 2020 presidential election, also voiced misgivings about another Trump campaign for the White House.
“I’m done with that,” Rogers said of Trump. “We’ve become so vicious and uncivil in politics. People are looking for a leader who can bring the country together.”
Rogers suggested a Republican who might embody the easygoing manner of Ronald Reagan. But Rogers conceded he did not see anyone in the current Republican field of potential presidential candidates who might fit that mold. "They want a Reagan type of guy, who doesn’t believe in name calling who doesn’t believe in division," Rogers said.
As for Joe Biden, at the mention of the president’s name, many voters on all sides of the political compass seemed to channel a classic Jersey putdown: “Fuhgetaboutit.”
'If I don’t vote, I have no right to complain'
Nutley is not a perfect mirror of America — racially, it is 80% white. But its tree-lined streets that are dotted with two-story colonial and Cape Cod homes reflect a cross-section of the American Dream and values that are often overlooked amid the culture war spats on cable news or the steady flood of misinformation on social media.
Many residents proudly spoke of knowing what it’s like to work their way up the ladder of a corporation. They lamented losing jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic and settling for a stay-at-home vacation rather than an exotic trip to save money for a child’s college.
But they felt better days were coming if only the nation would stop fighting with itself and embrace its better angels.
Here, the Little League, Rotary Club and high school sports are regarded as cultural pillars. The same is true of local political leaders, no matter what party they belong to.
On Tuesday, the town’s central business district on Franklin Avenue came to a standstill in silent tribute during the funeral procession of Sabino “Sam” Battaglia, 78, a former Nutley High School football star who died last week after serving 50 years on a variety of township governing boards. As residents trickled into the public high school to cast their votes, the school’s football team lined the sidewalk, along with cheerleaders, coaches and teachers.
Elsewhere, few voters mentioned the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S Capitol or that they were casting ballots to “save democracy”— a key campaign theme raised by Democrats. Likewise, few complained that the 2020 presidential election was rigged — a key theme that is often repeated by Trump and other national Republican leaders.
“If I don’t vote, I have no right to complain about what’s going on,” said one Republican who enthusiastically supported Trump in 2016 and 2020 and said he would probably vote for the former president in 2024. “I think my vote counts.”
Few echoed some of the more controversial Republican campaign messages such as abolishing transgender bathrooms or cracking down on teachers who include critical race theory as part of a high school history curriculum. Instead, voters talked of suffering through more than a year of soaring gasoline prices, their personal fear of crime even though their town has a relatively low crime rate and the inability of both parties to come together and agree on a coherent strategy for securing the southern border while still protecting legal immigration.
If voters spoke of nuances in their political views, it was about abortion, crime and race relations.
Jean Nick, 84, described herself as an ardent Republican and a Catholic. But she said she planned to vote for Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a pro-choice abortion advocate and two-term Democratic incumbent. Nick said she felt that Sherill’s Republican challenger, Paul DeGroot, did not support strong enough protections of legalized abortion.
“I don’t believe in abortion,” said Nick, a retired data entry expert with a local computer firm. “But what about cases of rape? Or incest? Or what if the life of the mother is endangered?”
Rafael Ulloa, 49, a pharmaceutical production manager, said he feels safe in Nutley, where the crime rate is more than 5 times lower than the national average. But ever since his daughter enrolled in college classes in Manhattan, he finds himself monitoring news about the increase in violent crime in New York City.
“I’m talking to her every day to remind her to be careful,” Ulloa said, adding: “I think that people in government, especially on the left, are appealing only to people committing crimes than to people living their lives the right way. They have more sympathy for the criminals than for the good people.”
Elizabeth Guirguis, 36, a real estate leasing manager, said she has found herself focusing more in recent years on racial division in America. But she said the national political discussion of the volatile issue often misses the point.
“I believe there is racial injustice,” Guirguis said. “But I feel some media people go to extremes. There’s no more conversation.”
The yearning for a calmer political dialogue — “more conversation,” as Guirguis noted — seeped into many sentiments of voters. Many spoke disdainfully of the tit-for-tat rhetorical jumble that passes for debates on cable news each night on CNN, MSNBC or Fox.
But at the same time, many also just wanted some sense that life would stabilize — that immigration and crime would be controlled and perhaps they might find a bargain now and then when they went shopping or pulled up to the gas pump.
“What brought me out to vote today was the high price of gasoline,” said Ron Vassallo, 74, a retired reading specialist who taught in public schools in Rutherford and Paterson.
Vassallo’s wife, Linda, nodded. She runs a small bakery.
“The price of everything has gone up,” she lamented.
As for politics and the election, she added: “I used to be a Democrat. Then I grew up.”
Mike Kelly is an award-winning columnist for NorthJersey.com as well as the author of three critically acclaimed non-fiction books and a podcast and documentary film producer. To get unlimited access to his insightful thoughts on how we live life in New Jersey, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: kellym@northjersey.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Nutley NJ midterm elections 2022: A political post card
