By Allison Perrine
NEW JERSEY – A majority of the votes are in from this year’s historic Primary Election, marked as one of the first state primaries conducted mostly by mail due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the Monmouth County Votes website, about 86 percent of election night mail-in ballots have been processed as of July 7, the most recent results available as of press time Wednesday. Late mail-in ballots and provisional ballots are still pending and results are subject to change.
Here’s what the preliminary results show for Two River area residents.
Federal Offices
For U.S. House of Representatives in the 4th District, Republican incumbent Chris Smith leads with 19,882 votes against Republican challenger Alter Eliezer Richter with 900. The Democratic primary shows Stephanie Schmid in the lead with 19,690 votes and Christine Conforti trailing with 5,519 votes. The third candidate, David Applefield, who garnered 1,622 votes, died shortly after the July 7 Primary while exercising. He was 64 years old.
For a seat in the 6th Congressional District, Democratic incumbent Frank Pallone Jr. took the lead with 11,940 votes, with his challengers Russell “Russ” Cirincione and Amani Al-Khatahtbeh significantly behind with 1,963 and 486 votes, respectively. No Republican candidates ran for this seat.
County Offices
Monmouth County Clerk candidates were unchallenged in each party. Christine Giordano Hanlon, the current county clerk, received 26,993 votes for the Republican par ty and Democrat Angela Ahbez-Anderson received 38,325.
Two seats will be available for the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders this year. With tight leads in each party, Republican political newcomer Ross Licitra, the executive director of the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, received 26,120 votes with incumbent Lillian G. Burry behind with 25,758. In the Democratic race for the board, which is currently all-Republican, Michael Penna leads with 30,945 votes, with Moira Nelson fewer than 100 votes behind with 30,886, and Angelica Ashford and Lucille Benfanti at 9,536 and 8,231, respectively.
Municipal Offices
Several municipalities in the Two River area had candidates run for a spot on the November ballot in each party. In Atlantic Highlands, two seats are available. There is currently a tie for the Republican nomination with Ellen Y. O’Dwyer Woods and David Krupinski both receiving 193 votes. For the Dem- ocratic incumbents, also in a close race, Lori Hohenleitner received 426 votes with Jon M. Crowley seeing 410 votes.
There were no Democratic candi- dates running for the two open seats on the Colts Neck Township Committee this election cycle. Republican incum- bent deputy mayor Michael Viola and Tara Torchia Buss were on the primary ballot, however, with Viola garnering 774 votes and Buss 747.
Two seats are also open in Fair Haven for borough council. Republican incumbent Susan Sorensen received 244 votes, with Democratic candidates incumbent Christopher Rodriguez receiving 510 and Laline Neff seeing 505 votes.
There are five individuals vying for two open seats on the Holmdel Town- ship Committee. One is Republican incumbent and Mayor Greg Buontempo, who received 1,068 votes. But Republican challenger Domenico “DJ” Luccarelli has received more votes so far, with 1,232. Victoria “Vicky” Flynn received 1,018 votes and Ronald Emma received 945. Only one Democrat ran for the committee, Joseph Romano, who received 1,007 votes.
In Little Silver, two Republicans and two Democrats entered into the race for two seats on the borough council. In the Republican race, incumbent Michael Holzapfel fell six votes short of Kevin J. Brennan, receiving 372 to his 378 votes. For the Democrats, also in a close race, incumbent Stephanie Keenan received 512 votes and Joan G. Gotti received 503.
There are two seats opening up on the Middletown Township Committee this year, including Republican incumbent Patricia Snell’s. She was bested by challenger Ryan M. Clarke who received 2,875 votes to Snell’s 2,862. Two Democrats have entered the race as well for a seat on the currently all-Republican committee, including Marguerite Stocker, 3,565, and Paul Jansen, 3,489.
There are three candidates seeking a seat on the Oceanport Borough Council, two of whom are Republicans. The candidate with the most votes was Democrat Amy Stark with 354; Republican incumbent challengers Richard A. Gallo received 280 and Bryan J. Keeshen amassed 254.
Two Democratic incumbents, Edward Zipprich and Michael Ballard, are running for reelection to Red Bank’s all-Democratic borough council; Zipprich received 868 votes and Ballard 869. Republicans Jonathan Maciel Penney and Brian Irwin fell significantly shorter, with Penney at 211 and Irwin at 207.
No Democratic candidates filed to run for candidacy in Rumson, Sea Bright or Shrewsbury Borough. In Rumson, incumbents Gary A. Casazza and Robert T. Swikart are in the running, with Casazza at 338 and Swikart at 334. In Sea Bright, Republican Jeffrey M. Booker received 69 votes; there is still one open seat with 21 total write- ins. And in Shrewsbury Borough, incumbents Kimberly Doran Eulner and Brendan Gilmartin received 217 and 215, respectively.
The article originally appeared in the July 16 – 22, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
