Kim Ahead Of Chung In Hotly-Contested Palisades Park Mayoral Primary

Fort Lee NJ

08 June, 2022

1:52 PM

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PALISADES PARK, NJ — Palisades Park Councilman Chong "Paul" Kim is beating incumbent mayor Chris Chung by 80 votes in Tuesday's Democratic primary race for mayor, election results show. It has been a tense political environment in the east Bergen borough, and questions circle around the police department as well; the prosecutor's office seized a computer from PalPark Police HQ in late April. Kim was the local Democratic Party's choice for mayor, as NorthJersey.com reported, though Chung chose to run on his own ticket. Chung became Palisades Park's first Korean American mayor in 2018. He filed a $25 million defamation lawsuit against Kim, borough administrator David Lorenzo, and others last week, according to reporter Kristie Cattafi. Kim and Chung also argued over borough finances at a recent Council meeting that stretched past three hours, as NorthJersey.com witnessed. The Bergen County Clerk's Office is still waiting to add provisional and mail-in ballots to totals from Tuesday night. As it stands, with early votes and Tuesday night's in-person results in, Kim has 435 votes and Chung has 355. In the Republican primary, Stephanie S. Jang is ahead of Glenn Pallotta by 122 votes to 34.