Serena DiMaso. In her third try for the office, Monmouth County’s new freeholder was victorious by a wider than expected margin. During this campaign, Serena revealed a dignified strength and tenacity that had been missing from her earlier bids.
Joe Oxley. The chairman who had done away with conventions due to the chaos and deep divisions that often resulted, lead the county party in an orderly and adult gathering that left the party stronger.
Peter Doyle. The previously little known West Point graduate, a councilman from a small town (only 8 committee votes in Atlantic Highlands) introduced himself to the county as a strong leader with a bright political future. He exceeded expectations with his third place finish and is considered a front runner for future county or state vacancies.
Bob Walsh. The Howell Mayor ran a positive, passionate and clean campaign. His concession to DiMaso during the first few moments of the second ballot vote was the right thing to do for party unity.
“I treat people the way I’d like to be treated,” Walsh said in an post election interview, “Serena won, it’s a simple as that. She worked hard and ran a clean campaign. She’s a wonderful woman who has my complete support as a freeholder and in the coming election in November.”
Tom Fitzsimmons. The Matawan councilman and political consultant managed a positive campaign for DiMaso. He proved to be the best vote counter and bs detector in the field.
The Monmouth County Republican Party. The days of a raucous divisions are certifiably behind us. The party produced four very qualified candidates, elected the best, and left the convention unified. Worries of having a quorum present proved to be unjustified as 487 committee members showed up to preform their statutory duty.
Monmouth County Residents have an outstanding Board of Freeholders.
Holmdel Patchprovided accurate and timely coverage of the election which is syndicated throughout Patch’s other Monmouth County sites.
Losers
Ryan Green. The Manalapan Committeeman didn’t realize that, like Doyle, he was never going to overcome the countywide support that DiMaso and Walsh had built in previous runs for the office. Doyle got it in the last week of the campaign and kept building relationships for the future. Green threw an ill advised Hail Mary pass with his 11th hour press release bashing DiMaso. DiMaso intercepted the errant pass and ran it back for a touchdown, leaving Green and Manalapan Chairman Steve McEnry, the advisor, damaged. Rather than leaving this campaign with a base to build on going forward, Green finds himself stuck in a hole that McEnry let him dig. Green was slated to be Mayor of Manalapan prior to entering the freeholder race. Now he’s an ambitious committeeman who has been publicly chastised by a newly elected freeholder for breaking the “11th commandment.”
Steve McEnry. See Ryan Green above. Manalapan has 52 county committee members. Green only received 39 votes total. An embarrassing failure for the Manalapan Chairman.
Jim Giannell. The Kingmaker’s winning streak has been broken. After his candidate, Walsh, conceded, Giannell graciously passed the mantle to Fitzsimmons.
Monmouth County Democrats. DiMaso was not the candidate they were rooting for. Regardless of who their new chairman is, Vin Gopal or Frank “LaHornica” LaRocca, they will be hard pressed to field a competitive slate this year.
The Asbury Park Press.As of 5:25PM they still have not reported that Monmouth County has a new freeholder. APP has made no mention of the special Title 19 election since Christmas Eve.
Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vic Scudiery will announce his retirement next week. He will complete his current term, which ends in June. Scudiery will have served for 23 years.
Scudiery’s protoge, Vin Gopal, spent most of this week working the crowd at the League of Municipalities Convention in Atlantic City for support to take over for his mentor.
MMM has learned that the fight will be with Marlboro Councilman Frank LaRocca.
Gopal is a business owner and Scudiery’s partner in Community Publications, the publisher of four monthly newspapers and a magazine serving Aberdeen, Atlantic Highlands, Colts Neck, Fair Haven, Hazlet, Highlands, Holmdel, Keansburg, Keyport, Matawan, Middletown, Red Bank, Rumson, Sea Bright, and Union Beach. He was an Assembly candidate in the 11th legislative district this year.
LaRocca, along with his running mates, Mayor Jon Hornick and Council President Randi Marder were reelected in Marlboro earlier this month. LaRocca, Hornick and Marlboro Deputy Mayor Larry Rosen are law partners.
With the chairman’s election not until June, there is plenty of time for other players to enter the race.
There has not been a contest for the Monmouth County Democratic chairmanship since 2000 when then Red Bank Mayor Ed McKenna unsuccessfully challenged Scudiery for the post.
Newark must be booming. After all, Mayor Cory Booker has enough time on his hands to get involved down here in Monmouth County. Why else would the Mayor of the largest city in the state get involved in legislative races outside his district?
Newark is once again mire in scandal. As Booker’s former Deputy Mayor faces corruption charges for allegedly fixing government contracts in return for political contributions, democrat legislative candidates in Monmouth County are bringing Booker to town. Let’s hope it’s to raise money and not to offer suggestions on responsible leadership and fiscal policy.
Today, in the midst of a financial environment that has everyone else in the state tightening their belts, Booker scored an additional $32 million in emergency aid to Newark. Add that to the more than $91 million Newark has already received. Monmouth County’s aid was less than $79 million total this year. In other words, Newark will receive about $44 million more than all of Monmouth County combined. Instead of throwing fundraisers for Monmouth County legislative candidates, Booker should be sending thank you notes to every taxpayer in the state.
In the past, Booker has been pounded for spending alarming amounts of money on both federal and state lobbyists. Newark is still in fiscal turmoil. An ethics scandal that alleges that political contributions and cronyism influenced contracts in the city won’t go away. Newark alone gets more money than every municipality in Monmouth County combined. I guess that makes Cory Booker a hell of a fundraiser. But there have to be better leaders that Monmouth County dems can look to. There must be men and women in the democrat party who offer a better example than Booker.
Oh yeah, he shoveled snow after the blizzard. Booker hasn’t been able to dig Newark out of corruption and debt, but he sure can shovel. Maybe that’s why Monmouth County dems are bringing him down – to help with the shoveling.
Today is Monmouth County Democratic Chairwoman Amy Quinn’s birthday.
As a birthday gift, Amy asked that I become a Democratic blogger for the day.
In preparation, I checked out Middletown Mike’s blog. Mike has the President’s weekly Youtube address and a Saturday morning cartoon posted.
Over at BlueJersey, they have a video of Chris Matthews interviewing Carl Lewis on MSNBC’s Hardball. Matthews mentioned his friendship with the late Republican Jack Kemp and neither man talk about sensations in their legs.
The Monmouth County Democratic Organization held their Mini-Convention at the Carpenters Union Hall in Red Bank this morning. The following candidates were nominated:
For Freeholder: Incumbent Amy Mallet of Fair Haven and William Shea of Howell.
For Surrogate: Michael Steinhorn of Rumson. Steinhorn ran for Council in Rumson in 2008. He’s a realtor, a CPA and has a law degree from Brooklyn Law School.
The 11th Legislative District:
For Senate: Ray Santiago, a Freehold Township Attorney who challenged Barbara McMorrow in the Freehold Township Committee race last year.
For Assembly:
Marilyn Schlossbach of Asbury Park?
Schlossbach is the owner of several Jersey Shore Restaurants. According to her facebook pages, Schlossbach is from Belmar and lives in Normandy Beach. Normandy Beach is in the 10th legislative district.
Monmouth County Democratic Vice Chair Amy Quinn told MMM that Schlossbach owns a home in Asbury Park and that her residency will be in Asbury Park before the filing deadline.
Vin Gopal of Long Branch.
The 12th Legislative District:
The Monmouth County Democratic Organization is deferring endorsements to the other counties in this district. Bob Brown of Old Bridge is running for Senate. Catherine TinneyRome, also of Old Bridge is running for Assembly. If there is a second Assembly candidate, the Monmouth Democratic Organization is not aware of who that might be at this time.
13th Legislative District:
For Senate:
Christopher Cullen of Hazlet. Cullen served on the Hazlet Township Committee and as Mayor in the 1990′s and early 2000′s.
For Assembly:
Former Hazlet Mayor Kevin Lavan and Former Middletown Township Committeeman Patrick Short.
The 30th Legislative District:
For Senate: Steve Morlino of Howell.
The Monmouth County Democratic Organization did not endorse any Assembly candidates in the 30th. Rabbi Howard Kleinhendler of Lakewood and Pt Pleasant Borough Councilman Shaun O’Rouke are expected to receive the nominations from Ocean County.
