By John Burton
SEA BRIGHT – Things remain undecided for incumbent Republican borough candidates following Tuesday’s primary election, as the two are deadlocked in vote totals for the remaining one spot on the party ballot line.
It was a three-way race for the two available seats on the six-member council. Challenger James M. Lamia Jr. took the lion’s share of the 159 votes cast, garnering 66, in unofficial totals as of this morning, ensuring he will be one of the two candidates on the GOP party line in November. Incumbents C. Read Murphy and James A. LoBiondo currently stand tied at 46 votes apiece.
According to Bertha Sumick, the Monmouth County special clerk of elections, that number includes mail-in ballots but not provisionals, which the county clerk’s office will count on Friday.
Should the tie remain following the provisional vote count, the county and local Republican organizations will determine who will appear on the ballot, Sumick said today.
Democratic candidate Cori Socher ran unopposed in the primary winning 17 votes among the 28 cast in the party primary. The remaining votes were cast for write-in candidates.
The borough council currently made up of five Republicans and one Democrat.
