Amy Mallet

In Monmouth County, every town comes intriguingly into play on some level, several more critically than others.

Republicans have owned the Freeholder Board for over 20 years, but in the last two elections Democrats picked up two seats to bring them to within one of county control.

A profusion of newly registered Democratic voters have boosted the party’s confidence heading into Nov. 4th, and now Democrats Amy Mallet and Glenn Mason are ready for that 11th hour jolt of cash from the Democratic State Committee.

State Party Chairman Joseph Cryan wants to win here.

He wants it more than he would like to pick up additional warm bodies in the Assembly next year, where his party’s already built a comfortable majority.

A victory by either Mallet or Mason would make a Democratic Party statement.  But neither is a name candidate running against incumbent Freeholder Director Lillian Burry and auto dealer vice president John Curley, an intensely focused campaigner who served as a Red Bank Councilman and has close political connections to state Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth).

John Curley and Freeholder Director Lillian Burry: Politicker photo 

MANALAPAN - The debate is underway here between the Democrats and Republicans in this down-ballot battleground for two seats on the Monmouth County Freeholder Board, and Democrats have opened by going after the incumbent.

Republican Freeholder Director Lillian Burry and her running mate, former Red Bank Councilman John Curley, sit at a table in the Monmouth County Library's main branch, alongside their Democratic rivals, reitred Hazlet Police Detective Glenn Mason and Fair Haven businesswoman Amy Mallet.

Taking a question about transparency in government, Mallet immediately goes after incumbent Burry.

"We recently learned there was a house tour in Colts Neck, put on by the Historic Preservation Committee," says Mallet. "She used her business as a primary outlet for purchasing the tickets (to the tour)."

Democrats Amy Mallet and Glenn Mason: Politicker photo 

RED BANK/ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS - If Monmouth County Democrats don’t believe in trickle down economics they definitely don’t have a problem with getting some top down love from the campaign of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.).

The Democratic presidential nominee appears to be on cruise control in New Jersey, receiving a boost on Sunday from an unlikely source in this battleground county where the number of registered Dems grew considerably since last year’s primary. 

"The Asbury Park Press endorsed Barack Obama," announced Democratic County Chairman Vic Scudiery, who sported a tie pin in the shape of the state of New Jersey with an Obama logo emblazoned in the center. 

"Obama has the intellect needed to comprehend the complexities of the times and the ability to articulate his positions clearly and eloquently," the paper’s Sunday editorial read in part. "He can inspire, and we believe he will be able to bring out the best in the American people at a time when our best will be needed...

In the much-watched Monmouth County Freeholders contest in which Republican control is at stake, incumbent GOP Freeholder Director Lillian Burry leads all candidates in the individual money race.

However, her general election report, filed separately this week from running mate John Curley, also underscores how the two Republican candidates aren’t running a coordinated campaign.

Their separate efforts contrast with the joint report filed by their Democratic rivals: Amy Mallet and Glen Mason, who also regularly make the rounds together to public events, unlike Burry and Curley.

Ramping up their Monmouth County freeholder challenge, Democrats Amy Mallet and Glen Mason today charged Freeholder Director Lillian Burry with using taxpayer dollars to fund advertisements for homes that she is selling for personal profit.

In a release issued by Democratic Party spokesman Michael Mangan, the Democrats point out that on October 4th, Colts Neck will have its annual "Historical House Tour," sponsored by the Colts Neck Historical Society.

"Burry serves as chair of the society, which receives taxpayer funding to operate," said Mangan. "One of the primary events sponsored by the Historical Society is the House Tour, and Burry has placed one of the properties she is trying to sell on the tour."

GOP Freeholder candidate John Curley: Politicker file photoIt’s been labor by slow degrees.

Aided by Bush fatigue nationally and the Operation Bid Rig scandal locally, Democrats chipped steadily away at the Freeholder Board in Monmouth, foregoing potential Assembly gains elsewhere to focus on trying to build a majority in this longtime Republican stronghold.

Relying heavily on state party funds, they elected Barbara McMorrow two years ago and John D’Amico last year to get them to within one seat of swinging control of Monmouth in their favor.

Now with newly registered voters bolstering their numbers beyond the GOP’s - 99,282 Democrats to 86,992 Republicans - Democrats hope Amy Mallet and Glen Mason are poised to become their party’s next freeholders here. Freeholder Barbara McMorrow, left, stands with fellow Democrats, candidates Amy Mallet and Glen Mason.: Politicker file photo

In arguably the most consequential freeholder showdown of the year, those two must get past veteran Freeholder Director Lillian Burry and her running mate, Red Bank Councilman John Curley.

"As far as I can tell, it’s the premiere down ballot race in the state," State Party Chair Joseph Cryan said.

Although Democrats gleefully claim momentum going into this one, it will be no walk over for them.

Amy Mallet has not had much time to rest.

Last year, she ran for Assembly in what was perhaps the most hotly contested - and most expensive - election district in the state. Her entire ticket, which was made up of two incumbents, went down, largely attributed to a controversial farmland assessment tax break used by state Sen. Ellen Karcher.

But shortly after that loss, Mallet was again tapped by Democrats, the perennial minority party in Monmouth County, to work towards winning a majority on the freeholder board for the first time in recent memory. She's running with Hazlet Board of Education President Glen Mason against incumbent Republican Freeholder Director Lillian Burry and Republican Red Bank Councilman John Curley, a former Democrat and outsider to machine politics who beat out the Republican establishment's choice to win the party's nomination.

"After I put so much into it last year, I was thinking about how the issues have not gone away," said Mallet, who owns a promotional marketing company. "They're still out there in terms of government spending, and really the cost of living here and the fact that folks don't have a lot of faith in their elected officials."

Democratic candidates for Freeholder working hard for the ratepayers and taxpayers of Monmouth County.

Democratic Candidates for Freeholder Amy Mallet (D-Fair Haven) and Glenn Mason (D-Hazlet) swept the Democratic Primary Election yesterday, taking 3,182 more votes than the Republicans.  As the campaign moves into the General Election phase, the candidates pledged to cut spending and end Republican corruption when party control changes in November.