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Monmouth Democrats Will Choose Their Candidates Saturday

By Art Gallagher

The Monmouth County Democratic Organization will hold a “mini-convention” tomorrow at the Carpenters Union Hall in Red Bank for the purpose of nominating county and state legislative candidates for the June primary election.

One reader asked me today, “How come the Democrats are so good at keeping a lid on who their potential candidates are and everyone knows who the Republican players are?”

The answer is two fold: 1) The Democrats have been having a difficult time recruiting candidates.  They don’t have a deep bench of elected officials on the municipal level in Monmouth County. 2) Unlike the GOP that has incumbent legislators we knew were going to run regardless of how the new map was drawn, the Democrats have only had since Sunday to determine who lives in what district and if any of the districts are competitive.

Based upon numerous conversations with Monmouth Democrats who will never talk to me again if I name them, the contenders for the various nominations are as follows:

Surrogate:  Little Silver Councilman Daniel O’Hern, Jr is the most prominent name mentioned.  O’Hern is the son of the former State Supreme Court Justice.  He is the Red Bank Borough Attorney and former Middletown Township Committeeman Sean Byrnes law partner.

Freehold Township Attorney Ray Santiago’s name has been mentioned for Surrogate, as has Lake Como Councilman Brian Wilton. Wilton’s name has also been mentioned for Freeholder.

Freeholder:  Incumbent Freeholder Amy Mallet will be nominated.  William Shea of Howell, a 32 year old State Trooper who is retiring on June 1st has emerged as the front runner to be Mallet’s running mate.

11th Legislative District:  Many Democrats think this district, which includes Neptune Township, Asbury Park, Long Branch and Red Bank, is competitive.  This is where the action has been for Democrats this week as potential candidates lobby delegates for the chance to challenge Senator Jennifer Beck and Assemblywomen Mary Pat Angelini and Caroline Casagrande in the general election.

For Senate, former Assemblyman Michael Panter is in the running. Amy Quinn of Asbury Park, the County Vice-Chair and municipal chair is gathering support, as is Asbury Park Mayor Ed Johnson.

Red Bank Councilman Michael Dupont and Freehold Borough Councilman Jay Sims are also in the mix for Senate.

For Assembly, Kevin McMillan, Randy Bishop and Jason Jones, all of Neptune Township are in the mix, as is Red Bank Councilwoman Sharon Lee and Santiago of Freehold Township.  Vin Gopal of Long Branch is considering a bid.

12th Legislative District: As busy as the Democrats are the the 11th is as quiet as they are the the 12th.  As of this writing, the Monmouth Dems might let the Ocean and Middlesex Democrats nominate the candidates for this district.

13th Legislative District.  No one wants to run against Joe Kyrillos for Senate, but some Democrats are trying to coax former Judge, Senator, Freeholder and Parole Board Chairman John D’Amico of Oceanport to come out of retirement one more time.

For Assembly in the 13th, former Hazlet Mayor Kevin Lavan and Atlantic Highlands Councilman Roy Dellosso are the likely nominees to challenge GOP incumbents Amy Handlin and Declan O’Scanlon.

The 30th Legislative District is the only slate that is settled for the Democrats.  Steve Morlino of Howell Township will be making yet another run against Senator Robert Singer. Rabbi Howard Kleinhendler, who ran against Chris Smith for Congress last year will run for Assembly.  Point Pleasant Borough Councilman Shaun O’Rourke will complete the Assembly ticket in the 30th.

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Posted: April 8th, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Monmouth County, Monmouth Democrats | Tags: , | 7 Comments »

7 Comments on “Monmouth Democrats Will Choose Their Candidates Saturday”

  1. Tony said at 1:58 pm on April 8th, 2011:

    And in the 30th, the only vote that matters is that of the head rabbis in Lakewood. God knows the Lakewood Jews, puppets that they are, own the 30th.

    That said, it would not be a bad thing if the Rabbis pissed on Assemblyman David Rible. Rible has been faking a disability pension for more than a decade now. He certainly isn’t “permanently & totally disabled.” He never was.

    http://txlady706.wordpress.com/2010/06/16/new-jersey-assemblyman-david-rible-scams-state-board-for-disability-totally-and-permanently-disabled-man-competes-in-5-mile-run-and-has-gym-membership/

  2. MoreMonmouthMusings » Blog Archive » Kyrillos: Parents And Students Shouldn’t Be Forced To Pay For Degenerate Entertainment said at 2:09 pm on April 8th, 2011:

    […] up for her Rutgers performance as a down payment on a house in Keansburg so that she could seek the Democratic nomination to challenge Kyrillos this fall. Posted: April 8th, 2011 | Author: ArtGallagher | Filed under: Joe Kyrillos, Tommy DeSeno […]

  3. Joe said at 2:55 pm on April 8th, 2011:

    Thank heavens for Steve Morlino. Our team will once again score a major victory. To bad he can’t run every year.

  4. Freespeaker1976 said at 7:15 pm on April 8th, 2011:

    Tony,

    What you DON’T understand is that a person can be totally and permanently disabled from a specific type of job, such as a policeman.

    In the private disability insurance field, there are EXECUTIVE type policies for such and I am sure there are similar arrangements for public union workers.

    It does not mean you are confined to bed.

  5. This Just In… | neptunematters said at 8:20 pm on April 8th, 2011:

    […] Monmouth Democrats Will Choose Their Candidates Saturday […]

  6. Astraea said at 8:25 am on April 9th, 2011:

    District 30 – One major shortcoming of redistricting, is when a single municipality dwarfs the many others in a district, being the proverbial “elephant in the room”! It may make all the smaller towns feel slightly irrelevant, or perhaps motivate them to become more active. As far as Kleinhendler, let’s not forget that Congressman Smith beat him almost 2-1/2 to 1!

  7. pete said at 8:37 am on April 9th, 2011:

    I think the dems have a big advantage this time around in the new 11th. sen. beck will have a difficult time in traditional democratic strongholds such as Asbury Park, Red Bank(her place of residence) and Neptune.

    Helping out is a well known repub in western monmouth county calling for her head. Should be interesting race all around.

    Singer in Lakewood should be a shoo in, Dave rible in big political trouble unless “blessed” by a rabbi.