Voters picked Dr. Edward Mahaney as the mayor of Cape May Tuesday, May 13, with the citywide result of 530 to 457 votes for incumbent Mayor Jerome Inderwies. William Gaffney, the third candidate in the race, was a distant third, with 87 votes.
Terri Swain was the high vote getter in the City Council race, where four candidates were after a single seat on the governing body. She took 480 votes, compared to 315 for Jeanne Powick, 141 for Harry Bellangy, and 129 for Jack Wichterman, the only candidate to have formerly served on Cape May's City Council.
At City Hall after the votes were tallied, Mahaney said his election showed that Cape May residents were ready for a change, and promised that the city would  better respond to the wishes of the people than it has in the past. He emphasized that point when asked about the Convention Hall project, which officials say is now close to  a final plan. The current hall is now closed over structural concerns and is slated for demolition before the end of the year.
Mahaney said that there is time for the city to get  better input from residents and businesses as to the preferred design of a new hall, as well as to its size and placement in the city and how much should be spent.
Mahaney and Swain will be sworn in at the July City Council reorganization meeting. They each won four-year terms.