Gilmore confident despite allegations of pending tax hike

Slapped on Election Day with a front page headline notifying voters in Hamilton Township that there is a $5 million shortfall in the budget, Mayor Glen Gilmore said he is confident Hamiltonians will judge him on his full body of work as mayor.

"They came in at the last minute but we have laid the foundation to withstand that," said Gilmore in the Colonial Firehouse, addressing the Republican Township Council's successful efforts yesterday to release the town's financial assessment in the hours before Election Day.

Wearing a t-shirt that read "Insulators Local 89 United for Gilmore," the mayor stood with his running mates, and union reps attired in the same t-shirts. They posed for pictures with Gilmore just before Mercer County Labor Union Council President Michael Maloney unleashed the canvassers on the streets of Hamilton. 

"I've not encountered a more pro-labor mayor than this mayor," said Maloney.

But Gilmore's Republican opponent, John Bencivengo, said he believes the Democrats have done enough fiscal damage to Hamilton, and residents will vote for a change.

"We are seeing strong Republican districts," Bencivengo said this afternoon. "I just got gas and the guy said, 'I'm voting to get this guy out.' He told me, 'You look familiar.' I told him I'm running for mayor. He told me he was going to vote for me when he gets off work."

Bencivengo said he was confident but did not want to be overly-confident.

"They have a big machine and a lot of money," he said of Gilmore and the Democrats.