{"id":9039,"date":"2023-06-07T02:02:58","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T06:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/?p=9039"},"modified":"2023-06-07T05:29:45","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T09:29:45","slug":"rodrick-ticket-sweeps-primaries-will-take-on-democrats-in-november","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/2023\/06\/rodrick-ticket-sweeps-primaries-will-take-on-democrats-in-november\/","title":{"rendered":"Rodrick Ticket Sweeps GOP Primary in Toms River, Will Take on Democrats in November"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Toms<\/a>

Toms River Councilman Dan Rodrick. (File Photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

An insurgent campaign led by firebrand Toms River Councilman Dan Rodrick and a ticket of political newcomers handily swept Tuesday\u2019s Republican primary election in the township, with its anti-overdevelopment theme leading to an immense victory over two other warring GOP factions.<\/p>\n

Incumbent Mayor Maurice \u201cMo\u201d Hill, according to election returns that have not yet been certified by the county clerk\u2019s office, received the second-lowest number of votes among the four candidates vying to represent the party for mayor. Rodrick, by far, received the most \u2013 4,576, representing more than 47 percent of the electorate \u2013 followed by Geraldine Ambrosio, backed by the county GOP organization led by Chairman George Gilmore, with 2,756 votes. Hill, backed by another local Republican organization not aligned with Gilmore, received 2,137 votes, and Robert Bianchini, who ran solo without an accompanying ticket, received 507 votes.<\/p>\n

Likewise, Hill\u2019s ticket of fellow incumbents \u2013 councilmen Matthew Lotano, Kevin Geoghegan and Josh Kopp \u2013 received about an even number of votes as the rival GOP club\u2019s ticket led by Ambrosio, consisting of R. Garry Mundy, Norvella \u201cPug\u201d Lightbody and Sergio A. Fossa. Rodrick\u2019s ticket of Thomas W. Nivison, Lynn O\u2019Toole and Crag Coleman, received nearly double the number of votes. A graphic displaying those results appears below.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Election returns as reported are inclusive of all voting districts, however some mail-in ballots may not have been counted. The results are technically unofficial until certified by the Ocean County Clerk\u2019s Office later this month.<\/p>\n

Rodrick told Shorebeat after the results came in that the people of Toms River \u201cwant to keep it that way,\u201d referring to ambitious, but controversial, downtown redevelopment plans that seek to attract more residents and businesses to the downtown area. Critics of the redevelopment effort have said adding hundreds of apartment units in high-rise buildings downtown would change the suburban character of the township.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love, love Toms River just the way it is and want to keep it that way,\u201d said Rodrick. \u201cResidents are tired of the development, the tax increases and the political patronage. Tonight we turned the page.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodrick has long been critical of spending practices at town hall, including a six-figure bill for a township newsletter he has claimed to be politically-motivated, the appointment of Assemblyman Gregory P. McGuckin as township attorney despite Toms River employing in-house attorneys, and the hiring of Hill\u2019s former campaign manager as the township\u2019s public information officer without the job ever being posted publicly. Rodrick and former ally councilman Justin Lamb have both attacked the incumbent majority over the township\u2019s controversial home inspection ordinance, which requires a resident to pay fees for inspections \u2013 and sometimes orders to make improvements to a property \u2013 before a home can be sold.<\/p>\n

Opponents of Rodrick criticized him for missing council meetings, sometimes joining via conference call, and the fact that he was initially elected to the governing body as a Democrat before switching parties. He formed his own ticket after he broke ties with both of the well-funded GOP organizations represented by Gilmore and his traditional detractors.<\/p>\n

Democrats, handily outnumbered in Toms River, offered a single candidate for mayor who ran unopposed. John Furey, a chiropractor in town, will represent the Democrats in the mayoral race against Rodrick after receiving 2,096 votes. His running mates, school board member Michele Williams, Rhetta Jackson-Fair and Kajal Lal, will represent the party\u2019s council ticket.<\/p>\n

A single challenger among the Democrats for council, local activist Paul C. Williams, received 450 votes. A graphic displaying the Democrats\u2019 results appears below.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Rodrick\u2019s surge in the primary election makes him the instant favorite in the general election in Toms River, where Republicans vastly outnumber Democrats on the voter roles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to thank all of the people who made this possible, particularly my wife and children who have stuffed countless envelopes and put up 1,000 lawn signs,\u201d he said. \u201d I also want to thank the voters. I\u2019m truly humbled by the overwhelming support we have received. Finally I\u2019d like to congratulate my running mates, Tom Nivison, Lynn O\u2019Toole and Craig Coleman. They ran a great race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall, county-wide, voter turnout was just over 9 percent.<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An insurgent campaign led by firebrand Toms River Councilman Dan Rodrick and a ticket of political newcomers handily swept Tuesday\u2019s Republican primary election in the township, with its anti-overdevelopment theme leading to an immense victory over two other warring GOP factions. Incumbent Mayor Maurice \u201cMo\u201d Hill, according to election returns that have not yet been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5052,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1765,821,1080,828,979,844,11],"class_list":["post-9039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-2023-mayoral-election","tag-dan-rodrick","tag-featured","tag-maurice-mo-hill","tag-primary-election","tag-republican-primary","tag-toms-river-nj-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/dan_rodrick.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}