Former Dover mayor, allies rejected from primary ballot over residency questions
A four-candidate race in the June Dover Democratic mayoral primary is down to three.
Acting Dover Clerk Rey Julve last week denied the nominating petitions of former three-term Mayor James Dodd and two aldermen candidates on his "Rescue Dover" ticket. Responding to formal challenges by the Dover Democratic Committee, Julve cited infractions including invalid addresses for Dodd, Ward 1 alderman candidate Claudia Toro and Ward 2 alderman candidate Sergio Rodriguez.
Julve's denial letter to Toro was more specific: "Based on voting records obtained from the Morris County Board of Elections you are registered to vote and currently reside in Randolph." Alderman candidates also have to reside in the ward in which they are running.
The denial letter to Rodriguez states: "You have not established that you have registered to vote in the Town of Dover and have not held residence in the Town of Dover for at least 1 year."
The nominating petitions of two more "Rescue Dover" candidates running for county Democratic Committee seats — Hiram Galozza and Alex Gomez — also were denied. Julve cited the same reason for both: "Based on the documentation submitted, the circulator did not in fact circulate the petition."
Edward Correa, chair of the Dover Democratic Committee and mayoral candidate on the "Dover First" ticket, is calling for the Morris County Prosecutor's Office and New Jersey attorney general's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability to investigate what he sees as evidence of perjury and voter fraud.
Correa and Dover First prevailed last month in the Dover Democratic Committee convention to win the Morris County Democratic Committee endorsement and the coveted top line on the primary ballot. Also on the ballot are incumbent Mayor Carolyn Blackman and 1st Ward Alderwoman Sandra Wittner.
Correa, a former Blackman ally who lost his 3rd Ward alderman seat to Karol Ruiz in the 2022 primary, alleges Dodd's residency came into question "when he sold his residence at 29 Ann Street in Dover and moved to a house on a Christmas tree farm that he purchased in Fredon Township in Sussex County" after losing the 2019 mayoral election to Blackman. Dodd ran as an independent in that race after Blackman won the Democratic nomination.
"The fact that Dodd does not live in Dover, and became a resident of Sussex County, was and remains a hot topic of conversation online and in social and political settings in town," Correa alleged in a statement on Friday.
Dodd did not respond to phone, email and text messages seeking comment.
“I shall also deliver evidence of voter fraud to the MCPO and again to the Morris County Board of Elections of a growing number of non-residents of Dover who have registered and voted in our town in recent years, including individuals voting out of businesses that have no living quarters and are not zoned for residences.” Correa added.
No Republicans filed to run for mayor in the primary for the heavily Democratic town. Wendy Huron Carmona in the 2nd Ward is the only Republican candidate to file a petition in the alderman field.
New Jersey's primary elections will take place June 6. Independent candidates have until June 12 to file for the general election on Nov. 7.
This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Former Dover NJ Mayor James Dodd, running mates rejected from ballot
