Watching returns from Daggett HQ | Philadelphia Inquirer

Tuesday, Nov 24, 9:42 PM

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Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Watching returns from Daggett HQ

Inquirer staff writer Matt Spolar reports:

Inside the Dolce Hotel and Resort in Chris Daggett's hometown of Basking Ridge, media and campaign officials gathered in a conference room dotted with green balloons -- the independent candidate's signature color -- to watch the returns. Daggett was expected to arrive at 8 p.m., having spent the early part of the day walking the streets of Fort Lee and doing an interview on MSNBC.

"New Jersey's got 2.4 million independent voters and you can't tell independent voters what to do," Daggett spokesman Tom Johnson said. "They're going to decide this race."

Mark Magyar, policy director for the campaign, said the campaign was the tightest he's seen since entering the thick of New Jersey politics as a reporter in 1976, noting that Daggett had polled anywhere between 11 and 20 percent over the last three weeks.

"We think people who have told pollsters they're going to vote for Daggett, really are going to vote for Daggett," he said, citing new voter support as key.

One of the problems Daggett has faced is the fact that he is not afforded top ballot placement like the two mainstream party candidates. Today, Magyar said volunteers had gathered at train stations in all 21 counties, passing out business-card sized reminders of where Daggett's name was located in their county.

In recent days, the campaign had focused on four counties -- Bergen, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean -- thought to have a high concentration of independent voters, he said.

Read more breaking news in our From The Source blog.

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