Red Bank GOP Won’t Challenge Menna For Mayor
Barring an Independent candidate entering the fray in June, Red Bank Mayor Pasquale “Pat” Menna will be reelected to a third term leading the borough in November unopposed. The Red Bank Republicans have not nominated a candidate to oppose Menna.
But that doesn’t mean the Red Bank GOP has given up on the strides they made last fall when Cindy Burham broke the Democratic grip on the governing body of 6 council members and the mayor and Sean DiSomma came within 1o2 votes of winning a second seat for the GOP.
DiSomma was subject to a malicious smear campaign, over a traffic ticket, by Monmouth Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal in the final week of the 2013 campaign.
DiSomma is running again this year. He is joined on the ticket by Brian Hanlon, a former member of the borough’s park and recreation commission.
DiSomma said that he hopes the campaign this year stays of the issues, but that if the Democrats take it into the gutter again, he will fight back with an factual examination of his opponents driving records.
DiSomma and Hanlon will seek to unseat incumbent Democrats Ed Zipprich and Juantia Lewis.
DiSomma told Red Bank Green that the GOP was targeting the “failed council candidates” who have “made most of the bad decisions” in not challenging Menna.
“We feel most of the bad decisions have come from the council,” Di Somma said Monday, which is the filing deadline for party candidacies. “The mayor is largely a figurehead, and we figure our best bet is to go after failed council candidates.”
Hanlon, who is making his first run at elected office, told RBG that he was recruited to run by state Senator Jennifer Beck, a former Red Bank councilwoman.
Senator Beck is trending in all these articles today. News Flash: she also recruited Burnham, who everyone knows is not a Republican. Like Red Bank alum John Curly she is a Democrat who could not get the nod from her own party
Sometimes it pays to put the blinders of party labels aside and then make your judgments. All of the people mentioned (Beck, Curley and Mena) enjoy a good deal of bipartisan support among voters. Like Reagan used to say, you don’t have to agree with someone on issues 100% of the time…..The person who you agree with 80% of the time and is very effective is going to be able to accomplish a lot more than the person whom you agree with 100% of the time and is ineffective.
at least it isn’t DuPont, Murphy, or Zippy running: you can work with Menna.. He is fairly reasonable for a D, and a gentleman.. We definitely need some more opposition to the status quo of taxing and spending taxpayers to death, and balancing their budgets with increases in water and sewer rates..Cindy Burnham may not be a raving R, but at least she is asking the right questions and trying to get some answers and fiscal restraint going, there.. She definitely needs help this year..
I like to think Menna is a nice guy but he was responsible for the library board and now we have no library.