By Stephen Appezzato
RED BANK – As the results from Red Bank’s first nonpartisan election were tallied, it appears incumbent Mayor Billy Portman is here to stay.
According to Monmouth County’s election reporting system, as of press time Wednesday evening, May 10, Portman is leading the mayoral race by a wide margin, with 1,251 votes to challenger Tim Hogan’s 796.
In the race for Red Bank Borough Council, candidates from Portman’s Red Bank’s Ready slate similarly won by a wide margin.
Currently, council member Kate Triggiano – the only incumbent on the slate – is leading with 1,161 votes. Fellow slate members include Ben Forest with 1,118 votes, Nancy Facey-Blackwood with 1,114 votes, David Cassidy with 1,070 votes, Kristina Bonatakis with 1,045 votes, and Laura Jannone with 1,042 votes.
With results still unofficial, borough council candidates from Hogan’s Red Bank Together party trailed by a seemingly insurmountable number of votes. Sean Murphy, who currently has the most votes of anyone on the slate, stands with 829 votes. Murphy is followed by incumbent council member Jacqueline Sturdivant with 772 votes, Erin Fleming with 706 votes, incumbent council member John Jackson with 685 votes, Linda Hill with 667 votes, and current council president Michael Ballard with 652 votes.
Sue Viscomi, a candidate for borough council not affiliated with either slate, received 680 votes.
“It was a historic election for Red Bank,” said Portman during a call with The Two River Times following the election. Portman pushed for a nonpartisan election and new form of government when he ran for mayor last year. He was elected to a first term in November.
“The voters overwhelmingly voted last year to change to nonpartisan, which doesn’t mean by the way you no longer run as a Democrat or a Republican, it just removes the barriers that were preventing people from being able to run,” he clarified.
“The voters voted for that and they voted for a change in our form of government. And I think they recognize that myself and my entire team was the true slate of change, that we really are interested in doing things differently,” he said.
Hogan emailed this statement on behalf of the Red Bank Together slate: “As we wait for the final election results to be released, we want to thank the voters of Red Bank for their support. As a team of accomplished professionals who came together with a vision of honesty, integrity and a realistic path for Red Bank’s future, we are proud of our now concluded campaign. We vowed to keep our focus on the issues that we believed were going to greatly impact Red Bank’s future growth and success. We stood by that pledge. As Red Bank residents who love our town, we wish nothing but the best for its future.”
The election results will not be certified until at least six days following the election, allowing time for mail-in ballots to be counted.
The article originally appeared in the May 11 – 17, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
