Barbara McMorrow

Control of the Board of Freeholders is at stake in Atlantic, Burlington, Monmouth and Salem counties. 

Republicans currently have a 6-3 majority in Atlantic, and are defending three seats tomorrow.  Democrats need to win two of the three to take control.  In Burlington, the GOP has a 3-2 majority and two of their incumbents are not seeking re-election; Democrats need to win one of the two to control county government. Democrats have a 5-2 majority in Salem County, where two Democratic seats are up; Republicans need to win them both.

Last year, Democrats captured control of the Monmouth Freeholder board for the first time in twenty years and now have a 3-2 majority.  Incumbent Democrat Barbara McMorrow is not seeking re-election; the GOP is running John Curley, a former Red Bank Councilman who narrowly lost last year, faces Democrat Sean Byrnes, a Middletown Township Committeeman.  The winner of that race will decide control.

The Asbury Park Press today endorsed Sean Byrnes, a Democrat and a Middletown Tonwship Committeeman, for a seat on the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders.  The APP's pick of Byrnes over Republican John Curley for he open seat of retiring Democrat Barbara McMorrow indictates their desire that control of the Freeholder Board remain Democratic.  Republicans need to pick up one seat to regain their majority.

RED BANK - Monmouth County Democrats, eager to hold the 3-2 Freeholder majority they won last year after being out of power for two decades, seldom use the words "Gov. Jon Corzine" in their campaign literature.

Democrats know it's going to be tough to win this year as Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie tries to flex base Republican voters and suburban independents in his challenge of Corzine, whose focus is mostly elsewhere in Democratic strongholds like Essex, Hudson, Bergen, Union and Middlesex.
 
So Democrats here keep their focus on the Freeholder Board and build around their candidate, Middletown Committeeman Sean Byrnes.

"We had 23 years of Republican rule - we can't go backwards. They're doing everything they can to pull the plug on us," longtime Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vic Scudiery told a crowd of party members at a fundraiser here at the Downtown Wednesday night for Byrnes, the man Democrats see as their most important player on the field in Monmouth County this season.

It's Byrnes' face, not Corzine's that fronts the party's website in Monmouth.

After years of GOP control, the Monmouth County Freeholder Board landed in 2008 in the hands of the Democrats, who after a rugged year of in-fighting now hope to fend off an amped-up challenge from former Red Bank Councilman John Curley.

Observing the battle in the no man's land of neither party, Stan Rosenthal of Holmdel doesn't think he was ever an affiliated D or R.

"I'm 65," he says. "Is it possible that I could have been a registered Democrat when John F. Kennedy ran for president? Possibly."

Middletown Committeeman Sean Byrnes, right, defeated former Neptune Mayor Mike Beson

RED BANK - Middletown Committeeman Sean Byrnes defeated former Neptune Mayor Mike Beson here today at Local Carpenters Union 2250 for the backing of the Democratic Party to run for Freeholder this year.

The county committee vote tally was 147 votes for Byrnes and 41 votes for Beson.  “We have a candidate for freeholder who wins in Middletown, and who has a great background – check his resume,” Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Victor Scudiery said of Byrnes, a Georgetown University-educated attorney, father of five, retired Coast Guard Commander and Red Bank native.

Byrnes will run against Republican John Curley of Middletown to try to succeed Freeholder Director Barbara McMorrow. Curley last month won his party's backing in a 36-27 matchup against former Atlantic Highlands Borough Councilwoman Kim Spatola.  

“My background is strong,” admitted Byrnes, 46. “I did a lot of strategic planning in the Coast Guard, which I introduced on the Middletown Township Committee. I would like to introduce (and see passed) more efficiencies at the county level. What happened here is the Republicans controlled county government for so long, they got lackadaisical and inefficient.”  

Freeholder Director Barbara J. McMorrow, left, is honored by County Chairman Victor Scudiery and Freeholder Amy Mallet

RED BANK - Retiring Freeholder Director Barbara McMorrow received a standing ovation here at the local union hall and gifts from Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Victor Scudiery.

She's not running for reelection this year, as she must contend with a serious illness. Hoping to succeed her, Middletown Committeeman Sean Byrnes and fomer Pallone State Director Mike Beson of Ocean (a former Neptune Mayor) will wage a contest for the county committee's backing today to run against Republican John Curley of Middletown.

For the moment, it was all McMorrow.

"As they say in Spamelot, I'm not dead yet," she told the packed hall. "I know in time, I'll be feeling well. The best medicine is being with all of you, because we're family."

"I am closing the door right now," she added. "I'm not locking it and throwing away the key. I intend to continue to serve on the Board of Chosen Freeholders through the year."

Calling him an "outstanding choice to serve the Jersey Shore families," U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) today endorsed former Neptune Mayor Mike Beson for the Democratic nomination for Monmouth County Freeholder. 

Beson and Middletown Committeeman Sean Byrnes will face off at a Democratic convention on Saturday for the chance to run for the Freeholder seat currently held by Democrat Barbara McMorrow.  McMorrow is not seeking re-election to a second term, and Democrats must hold her seat to retain control of the Board of Freeholders.

"Throughout almost 20 years that I have known Mike, he has demonstrated constant dedication and commitment to protecting and defending the public interest," said Pallone, the senior Democrat in the New Jersey congressional delegation.  "In recent years, Mike has become a local small business owner who sees first-hand the struggles that hard-working families face in this economic climate.  He will undoubtedly combine his decades of public service with his experience in private sector businesses to be a strong representative for Monmouth County."

Beson was Pallone's district director from 1990 to 2000.  After serving a Mayor of Neptune, he moved to Ocean Township and now serves on the Board of Education.  He is also a prominent Democratic operative, and ran Howard Dean's New Jersey campaign in 2004.  He was the PolitickerNJ.com Politician of the Year in 2003 after Dean locked up the endorsements of most of New Jersey's Democratic establishment.

"It is an honor to have the support of Congressman Pallone not only as a candidate but as a friend for many years.  His leadership and tenacity to represent our state in Washington has served us well in fighting for quality health care, preserving and cleaning up our waterways and open space, and advocating for working families," said Beson.  

"While we are well represented in Congress, it is important that we have strong countywide representatives that will be independent in pushing for our residents and ensuring that our voices are heard," Beson said.  "Every day, I see the frustration felt by residents given the challenges facing our state and nation.  I will work as hard as they do to make the choices necessary to move our County forward."

Gov. Jon Corzine and Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro)

Amid fullblown intrigue elsewhere, Nutley businessman Carmen Pio Costa and Carlstadt School Board member Don Diorio will formally announce their Republican candidacies in Rutherford Thursday evening, and few doubt the battleground, gauntlet-down implications of their challenge to Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) and Assemblyman Fred Scalera (D-Nutley).

But if the 36th Legislative District remains a decided field of contention this cycle (as is the 1st District in New Jersey’s deep south), two other districts – the 2nd and the 14th – early identified by operatives in both parties as potential battlegrounds in their own right,  at least for the moment do not appear to be marquee headline races.

Certainly that opens up the possibility for North Country Democrats and Republicans to expend more resources in the 36th, where Democrats enjoy a 2-1 edge but where the Dems must run with an unpopular leading man in Gov. Jon Corzine. 

Yet it could also open up other regions, other terrain, formerly classified as green zones. Arguably chief among these, particularly given its bordering proximity to the 14th, is the 12th District, where Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (R-Little Silver) and Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande (R-Colts Neck) seek reelection, and last night double-teamed at a town hall meeting in Manalapan.

John Curley, a former Red Bank Councilman who came within 346 votes of winning a seat on the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders in 2008, will get a second chance.  He defeated Atlantic Highlands Councilwoman Kim Spatola by a 36-27 second ballot vote to win the Monmouth GOP line today. 

Possible Democratic Freeholder candidates in Monmouth County, where control of county government is at stake this fall, include: Wall Mayor John Devlin, former Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Robert Honecker, and former Neptune Mayor Michael Beson.  Freeholder Director Barbara McMorrow, who has enjoyed a tumultuous relationship with her two Democratic colleagues and a cordial relationship with the Republican minority, announced yesterday that she would not seek re-election to a second term.