Monmouth County GOP Beats Back Tea Party Challenge

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Monmouth County Republican vice chairwoman Susan Cohen and county chairman John O. Bennett stand behind state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos as he speaks during the GOP's primary victory celebration Tuesday night at the Lincroft Inn.
Monmouth County Republican vice chairwoman Susan Cohen and county chairman John O. Bennett stand behind state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos as he speaks during the GOP’s primary victory celebration Tuesday night at the Lincroft Inn.

By John Burton
MIDDLETOWN — Incumbent Monmouth County Republicans for countywide offices and for the 13th Legislative District last night handily beat back a primary challenge posed by the Bayshore Tea Party slate of candidates.
The state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos Jr., R-13, Assembly colleagues Declan O’Scanlon and Amy Handlin, R-13, and Freeholder Director Thomas Arnone, Deputy Director Serena DiMaso and Sheriff Shaun Golden were victorious in the primary.
Golden garnered 80.23 percent of the vote while Kyrillos’ vote totaled 78.6 percent.  While the freeholders won their primary battle with more than 40 percent of the vote, Assembly members won with about 39 percent of the ballots cast in Tuesday’s vote, according to the county’s unofficial totals.
The 13th District represents 16 Monmouth County communities, including the Bayshore area from Aberdeen to Highlands, and east to Monmouth Beach, and Little Silver, Rumson, Oceanport, and Marlboro in the west.
“It was a smash up, great victory,” Republican county chairman John O. Bennett told the gathering of the party faithful at the Lincroft Inn Tuesday night.
The winners of Tuesday’s primary will go on to appear on the GOP party line for the November ballot.
For the GOP primary 19,078 Republican voters, 19.71 percent of the county’s total 96,806 registered with the party, came out to cast ballots, according to the county numbers.