A West Orange councilman failed to get enough signatures on his nominating petition and won’t be able to seek re-election to a second term in the November 5 non-partisan municipal election.
Bill Rutherford, the council president, filed with 391 signatures, three or four – it depends on how the municipal clerk rounds up the number – short of what he needed to get on the ballot.
“The statute is what the statute is,” Superior Court Judge Robert H. Gardner said after a brief court hearing today.
The West Orange municipal clerk had indicated on petitions that candidates needed 305 signatures – one percent of the township’s 39,417 registered voters. Rutherford, court records show, filed with 327 signatures on July 15, and an extra 97 on August 8. He was notified via email on August 23 that 11 signatures were invalidated; Rutherford says he didn’t see the mail until August 26, just hours before the filing deadline.
The clerk’s attorney, Matt Moench, said in his filing that Rutherford could have gathered more signatures before the filing deadline but could not add them afterward.
Gardner had ruled last week that Rutherford would not be on the ballot, but a new attorney for the councilman, Raymond Hamlin, had filed a motion for reconsideration. Gardner turned that down today, but agreed to stay his decision while Hamlin prepared an emergent appeal with the appellate decision.
Incumbents Tammy Williams and Michelle Casalino are seeking re-election, with Douglas Adams, Joe Krakoviak, Jonathan Redwine, and Joyce Rudin creating a six-candidate field for three seats. Krakoviak is a former councilman who ran for mayor in 2022.