It’s not quite tea time in the two congressional districts covering the Red Bank area.
In the 12th district, Tea Party-endorsed Dave Corsi failed in his bid against Princeton millionaire Scott Sipprelle for the Republican nod to take on incumbent Rush Holt.
Corsi, of Oceanport, won his home county of Monmouth by a vote of 3,345 to 2,577, but came ups short elsewhere and fell by a vote of 8,930 to 7,575, according to the Star-Ledger.
Meanwhile, the outcome of the battle between Rumson newspaper publisher Diane Gooch and Highlands Mayor Anna Little for the GOP nod to challenge incumbent Frank Pallone in the 6th district was unclear early this morning.
According to the Sledger, Tea Party-backed Little eked out a win against the Two River Times publisher by a vote of 6,7254 to 6,662. But uncounted provisional ballots could tip the race in either direction.
From the Sledger:
With 482 out of 483 precincts reporting, Highlands Mayor Anna Little, the tea party candidate, led the Republican establishment-backed Diane Gooch, a millionaire weekly newspaper publisher, by 63 votes – 50.2 percent to 49.8 percent.
“IÂ’m sorry, I donÂ’t have a result right now,” Gooch told supporters in Sea Bright. “LetÂ’s all hope, and it looks good, but we donÂ’t know … Tonight I donÂ’t think weÂ’re getting an answer.”
Little, who raised $22,000 to GoochÂ’s $432,000, last night said she was poised for an upset victory.
“WeÂ’re very close, but weÂ’re not finished yet,” she said.
Gooch communications director Toni Angelini said there was no way she would concede until all the votes — including an untold number of provisional ballots — are counted, and that they would pick up today to go over the results with a fine tooth comb. “This is not over,” said Angelini. “We are optimistic about the outcome. Not all of the votes are conted, we are confident in that. We are looking to get this settled sooner rather than later.”Angelini said Gooch may request a recount if she finds herself trailing in the final count.
In Monmouth County, where Gooch is her party’s vice chairman, Little won by a vote of 5,079 to 4,318, or 54 percent to 46 percent, according to the county elections division.
Pallone, a Democrat who’s held his seat in Washington for 22 years, had no primary challenger.
Fair Haven Mayor Mike Halfacre was an early contender in the 12th district GOP race, but bowed out in March when county party support failed to gel.
In other political action on The Green, there was none. Red Bank, Fair Haven, Little Silver, Sea Bright, Rumson, Shrewsbury and Tinton Falls incumbents all saw no, or very little, opposition, to their respective seats.
Election day this year comes on Nov. 2.
