Judge orders Hope Moran onto the Rahway ballot, pending appeal
A Superior Court judge ruled Monday that three disputed petition signatures were valid, saying election laws must be interpreted liberally and faulting the defense for relying on “speculation and maybes.”
A June 2026 photograph of Rahway City Hall. An independent candidate for mayor successfully sued to get back on the ballot. (The Central Jerseyan)
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Chris Howell | June 22, 2026
Independent Rahway mayoral candidate Hope Moran is back on the November ballot after a Superior Court judge ruled Monday that she had submitted enough valid signatures to qualify, ordering the Union County Clerk’s office to certify her petition over a Democratic Party official’s objections.
Judge John M. Deitch said the challenger had fallen short of the legal bar required to knock a candidate off the ballot. “I would have expected the defense to come forward with something besides speculation and maybes,” Deitch said from the bench.
Deitch said election laws must be “interpreted liberally” to protect voters’ rights and cited case law establishing that while a voter’s name must match their registration, signatures can vary and are not independently disqualifying. He said all three written voter certifications submitted by Moran’s attorney appeared valid.
In the case of one voter who signed the petition under her married name while registered under her maiden name, Judge Deitch was succinct. “People make mistakes,” he said. For the two voters the county clerk had flagged as inactive, the judge ruled that their status could be cured in time to vote, and they therefore qualified as valid signers.
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The judge rejected one of Moran’s central arguments, ruling that Robert Rachlin, who filed the challenge, had legal standing to oppose her application, despite not being a candidate himself. Rachlin is a former Rahway City Council member and current member of the Union County Democratic Committee.
During the hearing, Rachlin’s attorney, Kraig Dowd, sought live testimony from one voter to probe an address discrepancy in his certification. Moran’s attorney, Alan Levy, pushed back, arguing that sworn certifications carry the force of legal evidence. He noted that lying on a voter certification is a criminal offense. Levy added that an address discrepancy within the same municipality does not affect eligibility.
Judge Deitch sided with Moran on the merits. With the three signatures reinstated, Moran’s petition clears the 250-signature threshold required for an independent candidate to appear on the general election ballot.
Moran said in a statement that the ruling affirmed voters’ right to choose who appears on their ballot. “This challenge was never about signatures,” she said.
From left: Hope Moran, Rahway Mayor Raymond Giacobbe, Casey Granieri. (Credit: Alan Levy)
Moran thanked her attorney, Alan Levy, for his work on the case.
Levy is a Republican candidate for Rahway City Council in November and is separately a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit against members of the Rahway Democratic political organization. He took on the case after Moran was disqualified. “I could not sit idly by at this affront to democracy, and as a lawyer, there’s something I can do about it,” he wrote in a Facebook post last week.
After Monday’s ruling, Levy simply said, “Democracy FTW!” in a post on Facebook.
Dowd declined to comment.
The ruling caps a week of legal maneuvering that began June 8, when Rachlin filed a written challenge to Moran’s nominating petition with the Union County Clerk’s office. The clerk ruled June 10 that 49 of Moran’s 297 signatures were invalid, leaving her with 247, three short of the threshold. Moran filed suit on June 15. Judge Deitch granted her Order to Show Cause the same day, setting Monday’s hearing.
Rachlin’s membership on the Union County Democratic Committee is confirmed by the committee’s official roster on the county clerk’s elections website. Public records show he also works for the Union County Department of Economic Development. He served on the Rahway City Council from 1997 through 2012.
Moran is a lifelong registered Democrat running as an independent against incumbent Mayor Raymond Giacobbe Jr., a Democrat seeking a third term, and Republican candidate Casey Granieri. She describes herself as a former EMT, small business owner, and community organizer.
In a Facebook post last Sunday, Moran said the challenge had forced her to confront an unexpected political reality. “The Republican Party has been more cooperative and helpful toward me than the Democratic Party,” she wrote. “Members of my own party are the ones objecting to my participation in the democratic process.”
“We are on the ballot. We are in this race, and we are just getting started,” she said.
Moran now faces off against Democratic incumbent Mayor Raymond Giacobbe Jr. and Republican candidate Casey Granieri in November, pending an appeal.
Editor’s note: The Central Jerseyan is free to read and supported by advertising. If you value this kind of local reporting and want to help sustain it, you can become a citizen supporter on Patreon. Your contribution helps fund continued coverage of local government, schools, and community issues.