Julia Fahl
Political upstart Julia Fahl captured Lambertville’s Democratic mayoral primary election Tuesday in a stunning victory over longtime mayor David DelVecchio.
With no Republican contender, the Democratic primary win virtually hands Fahl the position of mayor, although voters may designate a write-in candidate as their choice in the general election scheduled for Nov. 6.
Fahl took 757 of the 1,389 votes cast, or 54.49%, with DelVecchio garnering 632 votes, or 45.50%.
“Thank you Lambertville!” said Fahl. “I am so incredibly honored by your support to be the Democratic nominee for mayor of this city we love. Tonight is just the first step in our journey to make Lambertville an even better place to live, work, and raise a family. Today’s record-setting turnout shows the city is engaged and ready to move forward as one. Thank you for sharing your ideas, your passion, and your time and resources — you are what drove me every day throughout this campaign.”
“I thank Mayor DelVecchio for a well-fought campaign, and for his service, and look forward over the coming months to bringing our party and city back together to ensure success in November and beyond,” Fahl continued. “We started this conversation about our future together, and together we will keep it going!”
DelVecchio called to congratulate Fahl and concede the election at approximately 8:30 p.m., and had a “very pleasant conversation,” according to DelVecchio spokesperson Rob Horowitz.
“Mayor DelVecchio had one of the all-time great runs of any mayor in New Jersey, and will go down as one of New Jersey’s great mayors,” said Horowitz. “If you look at Lambertville today and the work that’s gone in, and 27 years is much longer than most people get. There’s more new people in town who aren’t completely familiar with his record, but the voters have spoken and the mayor respects the choice of the voters,” he continued.
Fahl and supporters earlier Tuesday.
Fahl highlighted themes of inclusion, transparency and the need to modernize in her campaign, while DelVecchio emphasized his extensive experience and the city’s financial stability in his effort. DelVecchio had served as Lambertville’s mayor for the last 27 years.
The “record-setting turnout” Fahl mentioned might be unprecedented in recent times. The amount of registered Democrats in Lambertville was 1,650 last year. That number will likely increase with voters allowed to declare parties at polling stations Tuesday, but with the 1,389 number, this election might have eclipsed 80% for turnout. In 2017, only 729 voters participated in the Democratic primary and in the presidential election year of 2016 it was 1,016.
UPDATE (06/06/18): A call to the county clerk on Wednesday revealed the number of registered Democratic voters in Lambertville before Election Day this year was 1,807. The number is expected to be higher after these results are counted further, but right now, city-wide turnout for the Democratic Primary is 76.86%.
UPDATE 2 (06/12/18): The county clerk verified the number of registered Democrats in Lambertville, after the election, is now 1,978. This marks an increase of 171 unaffiliated voters who declared as Democrats on Election Day. Two were federal overseas voters, one might be a provisional ballot at this time. That means altogether 1,975 Lambertville citizens were eligible to vote in the Democratic mayoral primary. So 70.33% of registered Democrats voted in June of 2018.
Congrats to Ms Fahl. Hopefully the new mayor can put some reins on the jackboot LVille police dept.
Amazing. Congratulations to the victor. And congratulations to Mayor DelVecchio on his service.