HAMILTON — The council candidate who withdrew from the race Monday will still appear on the June primary ballot.

Mercer County Clerk Pamela Sollami-Covello said the mail-in ballots for the June 4 primary have already been printed, so Robynn Dumont will appear on the Democratic ballot regardless. Several prominent Democrats, including the mayoral nominee asked her to step out of the race after a report in a local paper detailed a dispute with one of her accounting clients that has resulted in a lawsuit and a criminal complaint against her.

Dumont dropped out of the race Monday in a press release that also denied the allegations.

“The focus of this election should not be on scurrilous false accusations about any one of the candidates running, including me. I have therefore decided to withdraw my name from the race so the electorate is not distracted from the serious issues confronting our township,” she said in the release.

She said she had not been sued in criminal or civil court, and the controversy grew out of a long-standing dispute in Joy Lippincott’s family.

“I have always vigorously and passionately served Mrs. Lippincott’s interests with the highest standards of professionalism and consistent with my ethical obligations as an accountant. I am in the process of consulting my attorneys concerning the initiation of a defamation action,” she said.

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