HAMMONTON BLOG

"Hap" Farley is rolling over in his grave.

For possibly the first time in at least 150 years, there are more registered Democrats in Atlantic County than registered Republicans.

Final tallies from the New Jersey Department of State show Atlantic County with 51,161 registered Dem-ocrats and 42,073 registered Repub-licans. The almost 10,100-voter difference follows a year when Atlantic County had 2,528 more registered Republicans than registered Democrats.

Elsewhere in southern New Jersey, Republicans still control Cape May and Ocean counties, while Cumberland County remains in Democratic hands.

As of 11:30 a.m. Sunday, there were about 740,000 more registered Demo-crats than registered Republicans in New Jersey, according to State Department figures provided Monday. Final statewide numbers are not available, as some counties still are tallying record numbers of voter registration forms.

But the change in Atlantic County is the most striking.

Atlantic County has been strongly Republican since the Civil War. It was run by powerful Republican bosses such as Enoch "Nucky" Johnson, Frank "Hap" Farley and Bill Gormley. Atlantic County's Republican Party was so powerful decades ago it even appointed Democratic opponents in elections.

"There was only one team," said Nelson Johnson, whose book, "Boardwalk Empire," chronicled the Republican hold on Atlantic County. "Everyone was in the same uniform."

However, the change in Atlantic County seemed predictable, if only based on past voter registration numbers: Registered Republicans outnumbered registered Democrats by more than 15,000 voters in 1998. Democrats cut into that number every year since 1998. The Democratic change in Atlantic County mirrored a state also trending Democratic.

Still, it's a significant switch.

"It's quite historic," said Johnson, now a Superior Court judge.

"Amazing, huh?" said Atlantic County Democratic Committee Chairman Pat D'Arcy. "You think you've seen it all."

D'Arcy attributed part of the surge to voter dissatisfaction with President Bush and enthusiasm for Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, of Illinois.

"I certainly think Obama is an energizing figure, and that people are looking for hope and change, and I think that he has galvanized an entire generation of people that maybe never voted before," D'Arcy said. "They're registering to vote. Thank god. That's what they're supposed to do. That's what we want to hear."

Atlantic County Republican Committee Chairman Keith Davis said Democrats are building their base in Atlantic City and Pleasantville, two cities with alleged voter-fraud problems. He said some voter-registration efforts are still being led by people associated with former Atlantic City Council President Craig Callaway, who is serving time in federal prison on corruption charges.

Atlantic County Republicans say if Atlantic City and Pleasantville are removed from the voter-registration count, their party holds a voter registration edge of 39,582 to 33,124.

"We are going to be looking at the voter registration numbers to see if they are accurate," Davis said. "It is one thing to have more registered voters. It's another to get them to the polls. Our base is very motivated."

D'Arcy said "that's what we expect to hear" from Republicans.

As for those old Republican leaders, Nelson said, "if (Farley) was alive, (he) would be beside himself."

Then he added, "Farley was a savvy guy. He would have found out how to deal with it all."

E-mail Thomas Barlas:

TBarlas@pressofac.com


And the same trend appears here in Hammonton too.
In the past year Democratic registrations outpaced Republican registrations by more than a two to one margin. More than twice as many Democrats registered to vote in Hammonton than Republicans. Some used to think that Hammonton was such a Republican town that the Democrats couldn't win. It looks like that is no longer true in Hammonton.