DOVER – James Dodd’s mayoral comeback has hit a roadblock.
His nominating petition was ruled invalid, because the acting town clerk determined that Dodd lives in Fredon, Sussex County, not Dover.
Dodd was not immediately available for comment.
Dodd, the town’s long time mayor, fell out of favor with Morris County Democrats four years ago and ran for reelection as an independent, narrowly losing to current mayor Carlyn Blackman.
He launched a reelection bid this year with plans to run in the Democratic primary.
Dodd appeared to be in great shape to return to town hall, given the fact the coalition that propelled Blackman to victory has split.
In addition to Blackman, also running for mayor are Ed Correa and Sandra Wittner.
Dodd would have been the fourth mayoral candidate, but his name already has been removed from the county clerk’s list of primary candidates.
Correa’s group, which calls itself Dover First, gleefully trumpeted the news on its Facebook page, saying that he (Correa) “keeps racking up the victories.”
According to Correa, Dodd’s residency “came into question when he sold his residence …. in Dover and moved to a house on a Christmas Tree farm that he purchased in Fredon Township …”
Residency is not as simple as it seems, so this can be an interesting legal case assuming it gets that far.
Many people own homes or property in two different locales and vote where they want to vote.
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