Spring Lake Mayor Jennifer Naughton at the completion of the 2012 Belmar 5K, Photo by Stephen Lacko via facebook. StephenLacko.com
Four more Monmouth County Democratic elected officials broke ranks with their party to endorse Governor Chris Christie for reelection today.
Spring Lake Mayor Jennifer Naughton and Council members Janice Venables, Bob Dasheff and Priscilla Reilly joined Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long and Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider in throwing their support behind Christie despite Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal’s attempts to enforce party discipline.
Gopal issued statements critical Long’s and Scheider’s endorsements of Christie, prompting the Governor to say that the 27 year old chairman represents the “politics of yesterday.”
Regarding today’s endorsements, Gopal said, “Spring Lake is an overwhelmingly Republican town. When Councilwoman Venables ran council last year, her mail pieces asked people to vote Democratic locally but not the rest of the ticket. The Monmouth County Democrats, as a county party, strongly supports Senator Barbara Buono for Governor. She will fight for working families throughout this county and state.”
Venables was a Monmouth Democratic Freeholder nominee in 2010.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: July 15th, 2013 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: 2013 Election, 2013 Gubernatorial Politics, Monmouth Democrats | Tags: Adam Scheider, Bob Dasheff, Chris Christie, Dina Long, Janice Venables, politics of yesterday, Priscilla Reilly, Spring Lake Democrats, Vin Gopal | 5 Comments »
Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider is the second Monmouth County Democratic mayor to publicly declare support for Republican Governor Chris Christie’s reelection.
Schneider told The Star Ledger that he will formally endorse Christie on Monday.
“He understands New Jersey and there’s no doubt in my mind is right now the last thing we need to do is reinvent the wheel,” Schneider said.
Sea Bright’s Democratic Mayor Dina Long endorsed the Governor in February. Schneider said he decided to support Christie in January when the governor criticized House Speaker John Boehner for holding up the Superstorm Sandy recovery funds.
Long and Schneider are among a long and growing list of Democrats who are supporting Christie over the Democratic nominee, State Senator Barbara Buono. Earlier this week State Senator Brian Stack of Hudson County and Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo formally endorsed Christie.
Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal issued the following statement about Schneider endorsing Christie:
“Adam Schenider is the Mayor of a nonpartisan town. He has endorsed numerous Republicans and Democrats in the past – as recently as 2011 when he endorsed a Republican Assemblywoman. As the mayor of a town which has nonpartisan form of governing, Mayor Schneider has said numerous times that he is not involved in either of the two major political parties in the county. Congressman Frank Pallone, the Democratic Municipal Chairman in Long Branch and his Democratic municipal committee is aggressively supporting Senator Barbara Buono’s campaign for Governor. Senator Buono opposed the cuts in UEZ funding in Governor Christie’s budget and she will also support an increase in the minimum wage – two issues which are important to Long Branch. I am confident that Long Branch residents will overwhelmingly support Senator Buono in November”
When Long endorsed Christie, Gopal issued a statement promising political retribution against the Sea Bright mayor, prompting Christie to say that “Vin represents the politics of yesterday.”
Posted: June 12th, 2013 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: 2013 Election, 2013 Gubernatorial Politics, Monmouth Democrats, Vin Gopal | Tags: Adam Scheider, Brian Stack, Chris Christie, Dina Long, John Boehner, Joseph DiVincenzo, Long Branch, Vin Gopal | 4 Comments »
