David V. Conti, who came within 262 votes of ousting Elizabeth Mayor Thomas Dunn in the 1976 Democratic primary, died on May 17 following a short illness. He was 84.
Dunn had been elected mayor in 1964 and was also serving his first term as a state senator from Union County when he faced a tough re-election battle against the 37-year-old Conti. The election became competitive after a witness in a perjury trial testified that Dunn took a $20,000 kickback from a developer. The witness Florence Hates, an executive at Kislak, had initially told a grand jury that the bribe was paid to former Rep. Cornelius Gallagher (D-Bayonne). Dunn was never charged.
Conti had called Dunn a “dictator and a tyrant” and criticized the mayor’s inability to get along with any of the city’s labor unions. One of his running mates was Ralph Froehlich, an Elizabeth police lieutenant, who won a city council seat; Froehlich went on to serve as the Union County sheriff for 37 years.
The original count gave Dunn a 262-vote win, 50.5% to 49.5%. Citing voting machine irregularities, Conti had sought a recount that allowed him to gain one vote.
In 1980, Conti mounted a second mayoral bid. This time, Dunn defeated Assemblyman Raymond Lesniak by roughly 1,135 votes, by a 44.5% to 37.8% margin, with Conti finishing third with 15.4%, about 3,775 votes behind Lesniak. A fourth candidate, Rocco Gallo, received 2%. Conti had run on the Union County Democratic organization line.
Conti had been a public school teacher and guidance counselor in Elizabeth while attending law school at night.
He had served as a municipal prosecutor in Roselle and Winfield, as the attorney for the Elizabeth Board of Education, and as the Elizabeth Democratic municipal chairman from 1977 to 1978. He also served as a Democratic State Committeeman.
Conti practiced law with John Mollozzi, his cousin and a former Union County freeholder.
His late sister-in-law, Ann Conti, was the longtime Union County Surrogate.
Dunn remained as mayor until J. Christian Bollwage beat him in the 1992 primary.
He is survived by his wife of nearly 60 years, Joan, his daughters, and two grandchildren.