OCEAN COUNTY – Challengers in the upcoming Republican primary election said that something as simple as the placement of names on the ballot gives them an edge on June 7.
Several significant positions are in dispute this year, including a member of congress and two county commissioners. The winner of the primary will be the one representing the party in November.
Ocean County is generally a conservative area, and the regional leadership usually doesn’t even need to campaign too heavily in order to run. Lately, however, there has been more friction in the party.
Incumbent Congressman Chris Smith (R-4th) is being challenged by Mike Crispi. Incumbent Ocean County Commissioners Virginia Haines and Jack Kelly will be facing Toms River Board of Education member Ashley Lamb and Sergio Fossa.
The incumbents are under the Regular Republican Club banner, and the challengers are naming themselves America First Republicans.
Recently, the candidates went to the county offices to randomly draw which column they will have. America First got Column A, which is generally considered a stronger position.
“The drawing of Column A…gives our America First Republican team that ballot position that every New Jersey political organization wants,” Crispi said. “Every entrenched insider who is attached at the hip of Smith will be replaced by my running mates and we look forward to showing them all the door on June 7.”
Ocean County Republican Chair Frank Holman said the incumbents will run on their expertise and past actions.
“We have great experienced candidates. They get the word out year round – the Commissioners by lowering the County tax rate. The Sheriff (Michael Mastronardy) brings the latest technological tools to the sheriff’s department,” he said. “Voters will find our candidates!”
The placement of names on a ballot could cause an upset, as evidenced by last year’s Central Regional Board of Education election.
Berkeley representatives Al Aires and George Dohn served six years each on the Board, but lost to newcomers Merissa Borawski and Heather Koenig.
Borawski received 6,338 votes and Koenig received 6,091 votes. Aires received 4,454 votes and Dohn received 4,029 votes.
Aires and Dohn both told Jersey Shore Online after the election that their loss was mostly because Borawski and Koenig got Column A and B.
Looking at the vote tallies, the candidate in the first position had the most votes, followed by two, followed by three, with the fourth position having the lowest. It was likely many people just pushed the buttons that fell under the candidate for governor that they wanted whether they knew the names or not, they said.
Elections in Berkeley have been pretty slow since Republicans won the Township Council and mayoral seat. There wasn’t much messaging from either camp. Aires and Dohn were running under the slogan “Honesty Integrity Safety.” Borawski and Koenig ran under the slogan “Supporting Parental Choice.”
Last year was a gubernatorial election, which meant a lot of people came out for that race, but might not have been as educated about the rest of the candidates. This year, like all even-numbered years, every seat in the House of Representatives is on the ballot, which means that it will be another combative election season where voters might not pay as much attention to smaller, local races.
