Both incumbents are keeping their seats on the Voorhees Township Committee.
Democrats Michael Mignogna (who is mayor) and Harry Platt defeated Republicans Jody Raines and Ron Richards.
The Camden County website broke down the vote as follows: Michael Mignogna, 3288; Harry Platt, 3217; Jody Raines, 2402; and Ron Richards, 2394.
“I was humbled by the overwhelming show of support in the election,” Mignogna said. “The residents of Voorhees are well-informed and intelligent.
“They recognized the hard work I have invested in our community to cut spending, generate revenue and maintain the quality of life the residents have come to expect and deserve,” he added. “The people of Voorhees heard our message and share our vision for the future of our township.”
“I think that the success in this election can be attributed to the programs and policies that I, along with the rest of township committee, have implemented over the years,” Platt said. “During these difficult economic times we are doing everything we can to maintain services and maintain the quality of life that Voorhees residents deserve.”
Raines said she doesn’t consider the fact that she and Richards didn’t win the campaign a failure.
“We were able to share a message that resonated with over 40 percent of the voters who went to the polls,” she said.
“Frankly, we were competing with the incumbents who have both name recognition as well as the opportunity to host and attend civic events in a high profile manner,” Raines said. “As an example, the Voorhees Business Association featured the mayor as a speaker just weeks before the election. We obviously were not afforded a similar opportunity.”
She said they did accomplish saving more than $40,000 annually for the taxpayers because she asserts Mignogna and Platt dropped their taxpayer funded personal health care benefits in October.
“Whether they will re-initiate the benefit is unknown,” Raines said. “Obviously they felt it was important enough to create an ad that centered on the fact that they were not taking these benefits, even though the entire year prior they had personally benefitted from them.”
“My running mate and I presented a clear, positive, four point plan that outlined exactly what we would do if we were elected,” Richards said.
“The campaign involved a great deal of effort to get our positive message to the community and make sure that those who were either uninformed or misinformed heard the facts,” Mignogna said.
“Fortunately, the campaign this year was based strictly on the issues,” Platt said. “Unfortunately there was a lot of misinformation presented regarding our stand on the county police, our municipal building, and levels of tax increases.”
“We were outspent by roughly five-to-one and their campaign dollars were contributions by the vendors and companies which had a vested interest to keep the incumbents in power,” Raines said.
“We were the two candidates that were consistent in our message, mail, and advertising,” Richards said. “We did question our opponents actual results. We did that with out belittling their character.”
Mignogna said public safety and protecting the environment will continue to be at the forefront of his mind.
Platt said that during the next month the committee will be reviewing the plans for the Voorhees Environmental Park on Centennial Boulevard, working on the figures for next year’s budget, continue to work on contracts, and continue to fine tune the newly revamped township website.
“I’ve never claimed to be a politician,” Raines said. “I am merely a resident who is tired of the ongoing back room agreements and overspending that comes of any administration that has been in power for 10 years and which has escalated taxes every single year, except this year.”
Richards said he will remain active in the community as well.
