Lincoln Day Dinner Observations

By Art Gallagher

A happy enthusiastic crowd of over 600 people filled the Shore Casino in Atlantic Highlands.  The event was scheduled to start with a cocktail hour at 6PM.  When I arrived at 6:05 the house was already 3/4 full.

Volunteers for each Monmouth County legislative delegation were collecting signatures for their slates primary petitions.  The 12th district team was asking for signatures from out of district residents as a preparation for redistricting surprises.   A scenario that puts Highlands in the 12th legislative district is hard to imagine, but I was happy to sign for Beck, Casagrande and O’Scanlon.

Freeholder Lilian Burry’s team was collecting signatures.

Freeholder candidates Andrew Lucas and George Newberry were working the room and handing out palm cards.  I heard Gary Rich was present but I didn’t seem him.  Lucas and Newburry are organized and have teams supporting them.   Lucas appeared to be more at ease in a competitive environment than Newberry did.  That’s to be expected, as Lucas has done this before and Manalapan elections are usually competitive.  Wall elections are rarely competitive.

One big surprise in the Freeholder race is Claire French’s name on Newberry’s palm card as Chair Person of his committee.   French usually goes out of her way to stay out of intra-party contests.  She told MMM that she strongly believes in Newberry whom she has known for many years.

So far Jim Giannell, the former Red Bank and Two Rivers group chairman, does not appear to have a horse in the Freeholder race.  Giannell has been an organizing whip in the last several Freeholder nomination races. 

The biggest surprise of the night was the sight of the leadership of the Bayshore Tea Party Group sitting at Senator Joe Kyrillos’ table.  That’s a relationship/alliance to watch.

Congressman Chris Smith’s appearance was a nice surprise.

Scott and Tracy Sipprelle made the drive from Princeton looking refreshed and wind burned from a recent skiing vacation.  Sipprelle told MMM that he is not likely to seek elective office again, but will be active in supporting candidates.  He said he attended the dinner to reacquaint with his friends and supporters from his CD 12 congressional race last year.

Former congressional candidates Diane Gooch (CD-6) and Mike Halfacre (CD-12) presences were apparent but neither aggressively worked the room.  Anna Little (CD-6) worked the room, stopping at every table under the watchful eye of her campaign manager Larry Cirignano.

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LINCOLN DAY DINNER IS SOLD OUT!

For the first time since 1989 the Monmouth County Lincoln Day Dinner is sold out  and walk-ins can not be accomodated!

If you’ve already made your reservation your in.

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One more thing about by-laws

By Art Gallagher

While researching county committees and the question of by-laws this week I stumbled upon an interesting provision in the unconstitutional amendment to NJSA 19:5-3.2 that creates a significant incentive for county parties to create by-laws.

In Monmouth County we elect county committee members and the Chairman every two years.   In trying to find the law that set those terms, I couldn’t find it.  The terms of committee members and chairmen does not appear to be spelled out clearly anywhere in the law.  I consulted an expert election law attorney figuring he would have the answer on his finger tips.  After an hour searching the Intenet together over the phone, we still couldn’t find it.

Title 19 refers to annual elections but it isn’t clear.  My election law expert found a case going back to the 1960’s that could be interepted to require annual elections.

I confess that my first thought upon this discovery was somewhat selfish.

Last year, due to the same snafu in the primary ballot printing that placed Dan Peters for Sheriff under Anna Little for Congress, making the Sheriff primary an unexpected race, county committee challengers in Highlands were also bracketed with Little.

I knew my county committee slate was in trouble as soon as I saw the ballot.  Early on in the process Chairman Oxley assured me that the challengers would be in the Siberian section of the ballot.   That I was supporting Little over Gooch for Congress was no secret.  I had raised the question of bracketing the incumbent committee with Little in the primary because I expected her to win Highlands, which she did.   Oxley assured me that the challengers would not be bracketed with Little and the committee that I led submitted our petitions under Gooch and the rest of the county line.

I know this wasn’t a dirty trick on Oxley’s part because he was more surprised and upset by the ballot as I was. Not so much because of the Higlands bracketing, but because of the Dan Peters for Sheriff bracketing under Little.  Suddenly Shaun Golden for Sheriff lawn signs had to be rush ordered and placed throughout the 6th congressional district.

We weren’t going to buy four different sets of lawn signs for a county committee primary in Highlands that less than 200 people were going to vote in.  But we did spent the weekend before the primary on the phone asking historical primary voters to cast a vote for Little for Congress and then move to the left and vote the county line for the rest of the ballot.  Those hundreds of voice mails that said, “Please vote Anna Little for Congress in column B and then move to the left to column A and vote for Shaun Golden for Sheriff, Clifton and Arnone for Freeholder, Frank Nolan for Mayor and our local county committee team” must have sounded pretty weird to the people who listened to them.  The messages didn’t work and the challengers won the primary on Little’s coat tails.

Discovering that the terms of committee members weren’t defined by law and what little law there was pointed to annual elections, it occurred to me to have my committee team in Highlands file petitions this year two minutes before the filing deadline.

If the clerk accepted our petitions and put us on the ballot, and if everyone kept their mouths shut, the current Highlands committee wouldn’t even know that they were about to be voted out until they got their sample ballots in the mail.  This was fun fantasy.

But if the clerk said, “there’s no county committee election this year,”  and I said, “there should be, let’s go to see Judge Lawson,” word would get out we’d waste a bunch of time and money.

If I prevailed, either in court or by the clerk accepting the petitions and putting us on the ballot, the victory would be short lived and all hell could break lose through out the county and as unhappy Republicans and Tea Party activists tried to take over the party every year.  We could have a different county chairman every year.  It could lead to chaos and ultimately Democratic control of the county government.

All of that went through my head in less time than it took for you to read it while I was on the phone and the Internet with my election law expert friend when I remembered reading in the Ocean County Republican By-Laws that the the term of county committee members in Ocean is four years.

“Hey election law attorney friend,” I said, ” the Ocean County By-Laws say that the terms of county committee members are four years, what’s up with that?”

Back to the unconstitutional statute we went and there is was….the new law passed by Corzine and the legislature provides that county committee terms are determined by committee by-laws.

That seems to be a pretty good reason to have by-laws.

Maybe we’ll have by-laws by the primary filing deadline.  If not, we might have some fun in Highlands after all.

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MANALAPAN MAYOR LUCAS ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY FOR MONMOUTH COUNTY FREEHOLDER

Manalapan Mayor Andrew Lucas announced today that he will seek the Republican nomination for Monmouth County Freeholder.

“I am proud to announce my candidacy for the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders today,” said Lucas. “Prior Freeholders have set a tradition of fiscal responsibility and visionary planning, making Monmouth County one of the best places in America to live, work or visit. I intend to build upon this tradition and I believe my experience makes me the best candidate to do so.”

Lucas, a lifelong Monmouth County resident who was raised on a working farm in Manalapan, cited his broad life experience as a major asset.

“In these difficult economic times, I believe my education and finance background is definitely a major asset. I think my record in Manalapan of cutting over $2 million in wasteful spending and being at the forefront of sharing services to create more efficiency in government bears that out. I also know being raised on a farm, as well as now owning my own farm, has given me an appreciation for hard work and a respect for the environment that will allow me to serve the people of Monmouth County well.”

Mayor Lucas is a principal owner of Lucas Capital Advisors, an investment management firm. He has a degree in Economics from Princeton University. He is also the owner of Walnut Grove Farm in Manalapan. He has served on the Manalapan Township Committee since 2005, during which he has served three terms as Mayor.

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By-Laws Don’t Matter, Yes They Do

By Mayor Mike Halfacre, Fair Haven

I am following with interest the piece posted yesterday and its comments on the lack of By-laws for the Monmouth County Republican Committee. First, let’s clear up some nomenclature. Most think “by-laws” and think “candidate selection”.  It is clear, however, that the by-laws don’t have to cover candidate selection. The statute contains nothing about what the by-laws should contain, only that there should be by-laws.

However, as someone who spent a considerable amount of time looking at County Party by-laws and their candidate selection procedures last Spring, I can tell you unequivocally two things:

• 1) By-laws don’t matter in candidate selection.

I spent the better part of four months familiarizing myself with the by-laws of the Mercer and Middlesex County Republican Parties, where there are, in the case of Mercer, relatively minimalist by-laws, and in the case of Middlesex, relatively byzantine by-laws.  I also spent time trying to divine what the selection process would be in Monmouth County, where there is nothing in writing. Suffice it to say, the ultimate decision on what candidate would get the “party line” in the race I was interested in, the 12^th Congressional District, was the same in all three of those counties.   

In Mercer County, the Chair came out early and often for their hometown candidate, (look where that got him) and regardless of by-laws, that “nominating convention” was a home game for the candidate. (As it should have been, by the way.)  But “rules” had nothing to do with the outcome.  Mercer County is not under Republican Control, and hasn’t been for years.

In Middlesex County, the candidate selection process is complicated, multi-part and ultimately, wide-open. If you pay your entry fee, or if someone else pays your entry fee, you get a vote on whom the candidate will be. Middlesex County has not had Republican county control in twenty years. 

In Monmouth County, the “Screening Committee”, is a loosely defined body of past and present County and higher elected officials, past and present County leaders and current Municipal Chairs. No actual list of the Screening Committee was made available. (At least, not to me) We had to make one up. But these people made the decision.  Sometimes it is a secret ballot, sometimes it is not. Historically, Monmouth County is dominated by the GOP.

In the 12^th  Congressional District, in each of these three counties, the candidate selection outcome was the same. (But so was the election result)

By-laws don’t matter in candidate selection. 

• 2) By-laws matter a great deal.

From a purely public perception stand-point, by-laws matter. To not have by-laws sends a message to the interested public that you don’t care about process, that the same group of Old Boys/Elitists/career politicians/whatever are making the decisions about who will run for office.  To people with a Tea Party-type background, not having written rules to follow is anathema.

For example, in the past 18 months, there has been a resurgence of interest in politics thanks to the Tea Party.  It should be a priority of leadership to welcome and encourage participation on the Republican team. The first question often heard is “How can I get involved?” the answer usually is, “Get in touch with your local County Committee. Run for a Committee seat. Then you get to help pick candidates and steer the party.” 

Except often, that is not the right answer at all. In Monmouth County, the County Committee may have no voice. In the case of Congressional or Legislative Districts, the Past and Present elected and past and present County Party leaders often outnumber the Municipal Chairs. Where the Municipal Chair vote is thus diluted, the County Committee vote is even further diluted.  And this assumes the Municipal Chair accurately reflects the feelings of the County Committee people he or she represents.

Why would we want to send this message?  If we only welcome their votes in November, and not their participation all year long, we will soon lose their votes in November.

We should write it down, so everyone knows the process.

By-laws matter.

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Where Are The By-Laws?

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Newberry Announces For Freeholder

By Art Gallagher

Wall Township Committeeman George Newberry has sent a letter to County Committee members seeking their support for the GOP nomination to run as Freeholder Lillian Burry’s running mate this fall.

A full size copy of Newberry’s letter can be found here.

Manalapan Mayor Andrew Lucas and Spring Lake Councilman Gary Rich are also expected to compete for the nomination.  Former Middletown Committeeman Tom Wilkens, who narrowly lost the nomination to now Freeholder Tom Arnone last year, will not be a candidate this year.

The Monmouth GOP’s Annual Lincoln Day Dinner is the traditional kickoff for candidates seeking county and legislative office.   With Republican incumbents seeking reelection for the legislature, surrogate, and Burry seeking a third term as freeholder, the nomination for Democratic Freeholder Amy Mallet’s seat is the only race that is expected to be competitive in the screening process. 

The Lincoln Day Dinner is this Sunday evening at the Shore Casino in Atlantic Highlands.   For information on reserving your seat, download the reservation form here.

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Victory Parties

Anna Little’s Headquarters
Shore Casino
1 Simon Lake Dr
Atlantic Highlands 07716

Sipprelle Headquarters
Westin Princeton
201 Village Boulevard, Princeton

Monmouth County GOP
American Hotel
18-30 East Main Street
Freehold

Middlesex GOP
Crowne Plaza Hotel
2055 Lincoln Highway
Edison

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