Saying she would rather raise Seeing Eye puppies than enter an election “dog fight,” Morristown Councilwoman Alison Deeb announced late Tuesday that she won’t run for a fourth term in the town’s Fourth Ward.
While the former mayoral- and Morris County freeholder candidate said she would not rule out some future bid for higher office, Deeb said the passing of loved ones and the meanness of politics convinced her it’s time to step down.
“The role of a local councilperson is to help and nurture others; I feel strongly now is the time where I need to nurture and help myself,” she said in a statement to Morristown Green.
Deeb is one of only two Republicans on the council. The other, First Ward Councilman Robert Iannaccone, told Morristown Green he will seek re-election as an Independent.
In 2015, Deeb emerged from a court battle with an 8-vote council victory over Democrat Justin Davis, now the town’s Democratic chairman.
Two years later she was a write-in opponent against Democratic Mayor Tim Dougherty, whose landslide clinched a third term in a municipality that is overwhelmingly blue.
‘POLITICS IS JUST NOT WORTH THE AGGRAVATION’
Among her council achievements, Deeb noted efforts to improve Foote’s Pond and preserve 12 acres of open space at the former Loyola retreat on James Street. She tried to be a bi-partisan voice of reason, asking tough questions while striving to be compassionate, she said.
But a rebuke by Republican neighbors “broke the camel’s back,” dissuading her from filing at Monday’s deadline to enter the June 4 primary, she said.
