Mickey Mouse And Donald Duck Are Popular Write-In Candidates In Bergen County

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Amid Tuesday's heated statewide and local elections, some Bergen County residents had a little fun with their vote — particularly if their town had an unopposed election.

As of Thursday night, according to the Bergen County Clerk's office, 343,187 Bergen County residents had cast ballots in state and local races, out of 671,000 registered countywide.

Of those voters, 217,064 cast ballots on Election Day, while around 68,000 voted early on the machines and another 58,000 mailed in their ballots.

In Bergen County, 187,538 chose Democrat Mikie Sherrill for governor, while 151,050 chose Republican Jack Ciattarelli, as of Thursday at 5:25 p.m.

The results remain unofficial until all ballots are counted and certified.

But some voters were frustrated, or just amused, and decided to write in their own candidates.

Scooby For Governor

In the governor's race, write-ins included 28 for Lily Benavides, a Green Party candidate who had urged a write-in vote. Others chose candidates who failed to get their party nomination, including Steve Fulop and Bill Spadea.

And some responses were just silly.

The write-ins for governor included Mickey Mouse (of course), Zohran Mamdani, LeBron James, No One, McBurger the Fifth, Christie Todd Whitman, Obi-Wan Kenobi, "Myself," Vermin Supreme, Funny Valentine, Jesus Christ, and Scooby Doo.

In the gubernatorial and Assembly races, some voters chose to write statements, including "Stop Fascism" and "Free Palestine."

Donald Duck Ties For Third

Voters became more creative when their candidate was unopposed.

In Ridgewood's school board election, only Sheila May Brogan ran for the open seat.

Her voters showed support, giving her 7,045 votes or 97.27 percent of the total.

But there were nine votes for "anyone else," four for "NA," three for Amy McCambridge, and also three for Donald Duck.

Mickey Mouse trailed with two votes.

Other write-ins for Ridgewood school board included Beyonce, Lisa Simpson, Jaxson Dart, Daffy Duck, Dogcatcher, and Quagmire.

See the totals as of Thursday night here.