There are 862 county committee seats in Union County – assuming they are all filled in time for the special election for Union County Democratic Chairman. Simple math: 432 votes are needed to win.
State Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Linden) entered the race with municipal chair endorsements from nine of the 21 Union County municipalities. Those nine have a total of 454 votes, enough to win.
Here are the five rules on counting county committee votes:
Rule #1: Never assume that a municipal chairman controls every vote in their town.
Rule #2: Never assume that a municipal chairman doesn’t control every vote in their town.
Rule #3: Never assume that a municipal chairman is telling the truth.
Rule #4: Always assume that a municipal chairman is overstating their value.
Rule #5: Candidates who show their cards when they don’t have to are giving free information, but you still must interpret what that means.