With many national election headlines, you may have missed a local election result here in Monmouth County.
Red Bank residents voted to change to local nonpartisan elections by a vote of 69% in favor to 31% against.
During the summer special election for the Holmdel referendum, the “Vote NO” campaign stated that Democrats can’t win elections and the referendum for nonpartisan elections, among other recommendations, was a ploy for Democrats to elect candidates in Holmdel.
Red Bank proves to be a very interesting case that rebukes this false claim.
Red Bank’s Mayor and Council are all held by Democrats. Not only do Democrats know how to win but they dominate local elections in Red Bank in recent years. Nevertheless, the Red Bank Council voted for the Charter Study Commission and now its Democratic majority residents approved the referendum to go ahead with nonpartisan local elections.
According to an Asbury Park Press article, in-coming Democrat elected Mayor Billy Portman was excited to drop party labels, saying, “It’s an old trope, but fixing a pothole isn’t Democrat or Republican.” Portman went on to say, “I can understand at the national level, the importance of having that party identification, but at the local level, I don’t see much of a difference in Democrats and Republicans on issues like development or town safety or keeping the streets clean.”
Not only did the Democrats support the referendum to go to local nonpartisan elections but the two Republican candidates for Red Bank Council who are endorsed by the Monmouth County Republican Organization, Mark Taylor and Jonathan Penny, both also support the referendum.
In Holmdel, it is estimated that Republican groups, led by the Monmouth County Republican Organization, spent between $50,000 to $100,000 to lead a “Vote No” campaign filled with misinformation and false claims against the referendum.
The difference between Holmdel and Red Bank?
With only one notable exception, the candidates endorsed by the Monmouth County Republican Organization (aka on the “Line”), have won elections for the Holmdel Township Committee in the past 10+ years. As stated in the Report by the Holmdel Charter Study Commission [1], Rutgers Associate Professor Dr. Julia Sass Rubin explained that a candidate endorsed by a political party or running on the “Line” has a 35 percentage-point advantage over opponents who are not endorsed by the political party. This advantage is so overwhelming that a new party-endorsed challenger can defeat even a well-known incumbent solely because of being “on the Line”.
That decision, to be allowed on the Line or not, rest with one person from outside of Holmdel - the Monmouth County Republican Party Chair. Critics have described this selection process as a corrupt practice that constitutes interference in local elections by outside party bosses.
The Chair of the Monmouth County Republican Organization holds that power and, essentially, decides which candidates get elected to the Holmdel Township Committee. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Monmouth County Republican Organization went all out in a “Vote No” campaign spreading misinformation and creating chaos and confusion for the Holmdel referendum recommending nonpartisan elections, while, at the same time, its endorsed candidates support a “Vote Yes” to a similar referendum in Red Bank.
In January 2023, Holmdel will have four “endorsed” candidates that ran on the “Line” on the Township Committee.
Thomas Jefferson once said, “The government you elect is the government you deserve.”
Stay tuned to see what unfolds in 2023 and subsequent years.
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_____________ [1] See Report and Recommendations of the Holmdel Charter Study Commission, pp 26-27 and 30-31.
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