By Philip Sean Curran
Monmouth County Democrats will endorse two candidates for the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders.
Moira Nelson of Asbury Park and Michael Penna of Long Branch emerged from what had been a field of four candidates that became a field of three at the party’s nominating convention. They finished ahead of fellow Democrat Jordan Modell of Asbury Park, while Elizabeth Lawrence, of Marlboro, quit the race before the voting. Penna could not be reached for comment.
Nelson, a fashion executive running for public office for the first time, said this week that Monmouth County is becoming “more and more unaffordable” for the working class. She said she wants to see the county become “a place that we know it can be.”
“So I think that I can bring a unique voice to the race as a woman, as a former small business owner, as a drug policy reform advocate, which also intersects with social justice and criminal justice reform,” she said. “So I’m interfacing, on a regular basis, with people that come from vastly different backgrounds than I do, perhaps different socio-economic backgrounds.”
Nelson, 44, grew up in Middletown, graduated from Red Bank Catholic High School in 1992 and then from New York University in 1996. Her career has largely been in the fashion industry, including starting her own intimate apparel company. She serves as director of design and product development for Bare Necessities.
In addition, she is director of drug policy reform at Action Together New Jersey, an organization that supports marijuana legalization in the state. She said she prefers the word cannabis over marijuana, given what she called the “racist roots” of the word marijuana.
“I initially got involved in politics because I became passionate about drug policy,” she said. “The opioid crisis was becoming startling. And I felt like I needed to do whatever I could to stand up for my friends that weren’t getting access to the resources they needed. So I don’t think of myself really as a politician. I came in as an advocate.”
She recently moved back to Monmouth County, and has lived in Asbury Park for about a year. Asked if she lived in the county long enough to have a good handle on county issues, she said still had family in Monmouth and “kept a close watch on what’s happening here.”
She will face Republican Freeholder Director Thomas A. Arnone, seeking his fourth term on the board, and his running mate Dominick DiRocco, a Wall Township committeeman. There is an open freeholder seat since Gerry P. Scharfenberger, a Republican, is running for the state Assembly seat of Assemblywoman Amy H. Handlin (R-13), who is retiring at the end of her term.
“I focus basically on working to make it a better quality of life and an affordable county,” Arnone said.
He and the other freeholders this week passed a county budget that calls for a tax hike of around half a percent.
“I am a strong, strong believer that you have to give it 100 percent, which I hope people feel I do,” he said. “And as long as I feel like I am really energized to continue to work very hard to make this a great place to live, I’m going to keep going on.”
“I’m excited about the opportunity to run and excited about hopefully having an opportunity to serve the county.” said DiRocco, a former aide to Gov. Chris Christie. Republicans hold all five freeholder seats.
In the other countywide race, Sheriff Shaun Golden will face challenger Kevin Tuohy, a retired Little Silver law enforcement officer.
April 1 is the filing deadline to appear on the ballot for the June 4 primary.
In the 11th district Assembly race, incumbents Eric Houghtaling and Joann Downey got the nod March 16 to run on the party line. They will face Republicans Michael Amoroso, the president of the Freehold Board of Education, and Matt Wooley, in November.
In the 13th district, Democrats Allison Friedman, president of the Matawan-Aberdeen Board of Education, and Barbara Singer got the backing to run against Republican Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso and her running mate, Monmouth County Freeholder Scharfenberger.
