Do You Live in Red or Blue Fair Lawn?

The borough's current Republican council majority aside, Fair Lawn is a Democratic town.

A majority of borough residents voted for Barack Obama in 2008 (53.2%) and 2012 (54.1%), and Democrats won two of three open borough council seats in 2011, and had held a majority on council for much of the past decade.

There are, however, enclaves that vote Republican in Fair Lawn.

Three of the borough's 23 voting districts went for John McCain in 2008, and five went for Mitt Romney in 2012. Eight districts cast more votes for Republican than Democratic candidates in the 2011 borough council election, and Republican John Cosgrove was the top vote-getter in 10 districts (Lisa Swain captured 11 districts, Kurt Peluso grabbed one and Swain and Peluso tied for the lead in another).

So where are these Republican strongholds and do they run consistently red?

Republican-leaning districts seemed to be scattered haphazardly throughout the borough in 2008 and 2011, but that pattern changed last year.

All five districts that voted for Romney were adjacent to one another, clustered in the east end of Fair Lawn near Edison and Milnes schools. With the exception of District 7, which is due west of Thomas Jefferson Middle School, just about the entire borough east of Radburn Road from the Glen Rock border south to Route 208 went red in 2012.

Of those five red districts, only District 6 was a carry-over from 2008. All of the other eastside Republican districts went for Obama in 2008, although District 3 was basically a toss up (Obama got two more votes than McCain).

Just as Republicans seem to have gained ground in a few eastern districts, Democrats can also count on votes from certain parts of Fair Lawn.

No area in Fair Lawn is more likely to vote Democratic than District 15, the northside stretch that runs from the industrial park south to Berdan Avenue bounded by Route 208 to the west and the train tracks to the east. This Democratic stronghold, home to many of the borough's renters on Pollitt and Chandler drives, is also historically the least likely to turn out on election day.

Radburn has also been a solidly blue area in recent years. Districts 13 and 14 residents, who vote at Radburn School, picked Democrats by wide margins in each of the three elections analyzed.

Below I've generated a list of Democratic and Republican "strongholds" in Fair Lawn, based on data from the 2008, 2011 an 2012 elections.

*Districts listed in bold and labeled "strongholds" are ones that finished in the top 5 in percentage of Democratic or Republican voters in at least two of the three elections analyzed. See the attached Fair Lawn election map to get a better visual idea what districts comprise your part of town.

Democratic Strongholds (Districts 8, 11, 13, 14, 15)

Republican Strongholds (Districts 3, 5, 6)

Polling Stations

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JOHN A. FORREST SCHOOL; 10-00 HOPPER AVENUE

FAIR LAWN HIGH SCHOOL; 14-10 BERDAN AVENUE

FAIR LAWN RECREATION/COMMUNITY CENTER; 10-10 KIPP STREET

MEMORIAL MIDDLE SCHOOL; 12-00 1st STREET

THOMAS JEFFERSON MIDDLE SCHOOL; 35-01 MORLOT AVENUE

MAURICE PINE FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY

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