Chatham Township Deputy Mayor May Seek Election Recount

CHATHAM, NJ — After the mail-in and provisional ballots were counted by the Morris County Clerk’s Office on Tuesday night, it has placed Republican Mark Lois, 25 votes ahead of his Democratic contender Katherine “Kathy” Abbott, who now serves on the Chatham Township Committee as Deputy Mayor, in an unexpired term.

Both Lois and Abbott made separate announcements on their social media pages, Lois’ a victory announcement on Tuesday night after counts were completed, with Lois holding 2,239 votes to Abbott's 2,206.

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Since the Nov. 2 election night, Lois has maintained the lead in the Chatham Township Committee race, with the results still considered “unofficial” by the Morris County Clerk’s as of Wednesday, as they have not been certified yet. When the first results came in on election night, he had 1,774 votes to Abbott’s 1,264, with Lois up to 2,138 to Abbott’s 2,036 on Nov. 3, before the totals plateaued until Tuesday at 2,157 for Lois and 2,071 for Abbott on Nov. 4.

“Thank you to the people of Chatham Township who elected me and to my family for persevering through it all,” Lois wrote on his Facebook campaign page late Tuesday night. “I also recognize my opponent Kathy Abbott for her willingness to endure another campaign.”

On Tuesday afternoon, Abbott had updated on her social media page about the narrowed gap, with about 100 ballots still then needing to be counted, she said, indicating, “We expect final numbers tonight” and “We’ll share them as soon as possible.”

On Wednesday morning, she referred to the results with the 25 vote difference in Lois' favor as, “such a small margin of victory and so many handwritten ballots.”

“I am researching whether a recount is an appropriate course of action,” she added.

Should Lois continue to prevail once the Morris County Clerk certifies the results and officially takes the seat in January, it will reverse the current majority on the Chatham Township Committee of three Democratic committee members versus two Republicans.

The shift adds another layer to what has already been an eventful election season in Chatham Township. In April, then-Chatham Township Mayor Tracy Ness announced she would not run again and endorsed Abbott, due to "growing personal and professional commitments.” Ness resigned in June to move out of Chatham Township, with Abbott one of three candidates the Democratic Party recommended to fill Ness’ seat, after Abbott was elected in the Democratic primary during an uncontested race.

After the Republican Township Committee members Mark Hamilton and Ashley Felice - both attorneys - cited case law among their reasons that a committee replacement shouldn’t be picked in executive session at the June 24 meeting, a special meeting was held in early July.

Following a stalemate at the special meeting, with Hamilton and Felice picking Democratic candidate Paul Payton and then-Deputy Mayor Stacey Ewald and Committee Member Celeste Fondaco picking Abbott, the Democratic Committee chose Abbott, who was sworn in on July 13, with her ceremonial swearing in on July 15, where she was also chosen, 3-2, as Deputy Mayor.

Lois was picked by the Chatham Township Republican Committee to succeed Daniel Bevere, the Republican nominee in June’s uncontested primary, with Bevere the municipal chairman of the Republican Committee, who said he was stepping out of November's race himself because of professional obligations.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.