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Party Unity
Based upon the voting results of the two Monmouth County political conventions that occurred on Tuesday evening, it would appear that the Monmouth Democratic Organization is united and the Monmouth Republican Organization is divided.
Vin Gopal’s margin of victory in the Democratic Chairman’s race was 73%-27%. John Bennett scored a 50.24%-49.75% victory in the Republican race.
Both parties had extraordinarily high turnouts with over 600 committee members voting. For a county party that has had no electoral success in recent years, the record turnout for the Democrats was an impressive showing.
But all is not rosy for the Democrats. Among Gopal’s minority opponents are his 3 county level candidates, Michael Steinhorn running for County Clerk and Freeholder candidates Bill Shea and Kevin Lavan. Gopal, Steinhorn, Shea and Lavan were all general election candidates last year. Gopal was an Assembly candidate in the 11th district. Steinhorn and Shea were county level candidates, and Lavan was an Assembly candidate in the 13th district. The divide is reportedly over Gopal’s relative (they all lost) success. He raised more money, got more press and came closer to winning than Steinhorn, Shea and Lavan did in 2011.
Posted: June 14th, 2012 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Monmouth County Republican Committee, Monmouth Democrats, Monmouth GOP | Tags: Bill Shea, Christine Hanlon, Jennifer Beck, John Bennett, Kevin Lavan, Lillian Burry, Michael Steinhorn, Monmouth Democrats, Monmouth Republicans, Unity, Vin Gopal | 73 Comments »