GOP Narrowly Loses Election in Democratic Atlantic City

Sharon Zappia, has fallen just short of doing what no Republican has done in Atlantic City in more than 30 years: win a local election.

The widowed real estate broker started Monday with a seven vote lead in the race to represent Atlantic City’s Fifth Ward on the City Council. But when provisional ballots were tallied at the county election office, she lost by 11 votes out of more than 750 cast.

Another Republican council candidate, Jesse Kurtz, fell 25 votes short out of more than 1,200 cast.

The near-miss was unusual in Atlantic City, where Democrats account for 60 percent of registered voters and usually win easily.

Zappia says the results show voters in the nation’s second-largest gambling resort are more willing to give the GOP a try.