By Sunayana Prabhu
The GOP maintained a stronghold on two major towns in the Two River area.
In both Middletown and Holmdel, the Republican slates are far ahead in the race for committee spots.
Middletown
Middletown has been a Republican stronghold for over a decade and initial election results reported by the county clerk’s office are a strong indication that it will continue to remain red.
Two Republican incumbents currently serving on the township committee are clearly heading for reelection; committee member Kimberly Kratz is leading the slate with 10,188 votes and fellow committee member Ryan Clarke is second with 10,069 votes. Democrat challengers Paige Gregorio and Rocky Rios received 6,203 and 6,046 votes, respectively, as of press time Wednesday.
The township committee is comprised of five members who select two of their own to serve as mayor and deputy mayor for a one-year term at the annual reorganization meeting held in January.
All election results are preliminary until the election is certified by the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office. Vote counts may vary in the coming days after additional votes are counted from Election Day drop box collections, provisional ballots and mail-in ballots.
Holmdel
According to unofficial results from the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office, incumbent council member and current Mayor DJ Luccarelli received 41.05% or 2,714 votes of the total cast so far and is poised to win his second term. His running mate Joseph Romano has received 36.62% or 2,421 votes. Romano ran for township committee on a Democratic ticket in 2020, but switched to the Republican party in 2021. Both Romano and Luccarelli are leading against the only Democratic challenger Kathleen Bauer who currently has 21.26% or 1,406 votes.
The candidates were vying for two township committee seats – Luccarelli’s and the seat opened when long-serving committee member Greg Buontempo declined a bid for reelection. Buontempo has served on the five-member governing body since 2011, including twice as mayor.
The article originally appeared in the November 9 – November 15, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
