John Curley

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. 

John Curley receives congratulations at last year's GOP convention from longtime ally state Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Red Bank).

Former Red Bank Councilman John Curley intends to screen before the County Republican Committee on March 28th in an effort to secure his party’s backing to again run for freeholder, this time against incumbent Freeholder Director Barbara McMorrow.

Curley, who now lives in Middletown, won the machine count in his race with Amy Mallet last year, and then lost the election after a tally of absentee ballots.

Now he’s back, excoriating the Democratically-controlled freeholder board for hiring Mallet’s running mate, Glenn Mason, to serve as the county’s emergency management coordinator at $75,000 per-year.

The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders: Lillian G. Burry and Amy A. Mallet (back row), and Robert Clifton, Barbara McMorrow, and John D'Amico Jr. (front row).

Monmouth County Democrats believed they had won control of the Board of Freeholders last November after a recount gave Democrat Amy Mallet a 346 vote victory over Republican John Curley, but a rivalry between the other two Democratic Freeholders appears to have returned control of county government to the Republicans.  Freeholder Director Barbara McMorrow does not get along with Freeholder John D'Amico; as a result, McMorrow has formed an alliance with Republicans Robert Clifton and Lillian Burry that has allowed the GOP to keep many of their people in place, even though they are in the minority.  This has frustrated some state party leaders, including Democratic State Chairman Joseph Cryan.

Democratic sources say that McMorrow, who was the first Democrat to win a Monmouth Freeholder race in twenty years, has not yet decided if she will seek re-election to a second term this year.  There was some speculation that she might switch to the GOP, but some of her allies say that won't happen.  Republican sources acknowledge that she has been asked. Democrats suggest that despite frustrations with her bi-partisanship, she remains their strongest candidate.

In addition to McMorrow, Clifton's seat is up this year.  D'Amico is up in 2010, and Burry and Mallet in 2011.

Amy Mallet

Monmouth County Republican Freeholder candidate John Curley just called Amy Mallet to congratulate her on her victory, he told PolitickerNJ.com.

“Having won the votes cast in the voting machines, I have fallen short in provisional and absentee ballots,” said Curley, a former Red Bank councilman who now lives in Middletown.

He also congratulate failed Democratic candidate Glenn Mason and his own running mate, Freeholder Director Lillian Burry, who won re-election on Nov. 4th, praising her as an “honest, capable and hard-working friend.”

“I was honored to carry the banner for the Republican Party, and I thank everybody for their commitment and energy on my behalf - you have buoyed my belief in a great place we call home,”  said the candidate.

Not so fast, says John Curley of Middletown Township.

The GOP’s Monmouth County Freeholder candidate convenes with fellow party members and attorneys this morning to determine if he should contest the results of his close race with Democrat Amy Mallet.

“There has been so much that’s transpired in this election,” says Curley. “We’re going to get some hard evidence and based on that either proceed, or concede.”

Following the provisional ballot count yesterday at the Board of elections office, Mallet unofficially defeated Curley by 343 votes.

Although counting didn’t finish until after 6 p.m. Tuesday, Curley says he climbed into his car at 4:30 p.m. only to hear a radio news report announcing Mallet’s victory.

Democratic operative Michael Mangan rejoices with Mallet's win.

FREEHOLD - It’s over in Monmouth County.

They're getting final numbers here, to be certified on Thursday, but barring a recount, Amy Mallet of Fair Haven has defeated John Curley of Middletown in the race for a seat on the Monmouth County Freeholder Board, swinging county control to the Democrats, 3-2.

The final provisional vote tally shows Mallet winning, 964 votes to 654 votes for Curley, extending by 310 her Election Day lead of 18 votes. This tally does not include email and ID-pending votes, which are fewer than 100 and imminent.

"Over the last four years, the Democratic Party has gotten its message of change through to the voters that 23 years of Republican control are enough," says Monmouth County Democratic Party Director Michael Mangan. 

With 328 votes deciding a race in which voters cast over 270,000 countywide, the GOP doesn't give up - not yet.

"We're going to look at the numbers and we're going to speak with John (Curley) and our attorneys and make a decision sometime tomorrow," says county GOP spokesman Mark Duffy.

On Tuesday, it proves a long afternoon of provisional ballot counting that drags into the early evening. The Board of Elections reps slog through the hand count votes in each town.

The Board of Elections and Democratic and Republican Party operatives run down the provisional ballots, town by town, voter by voter.

FREEHOLD –  The vote stands at 694 provisional ballots for Amy Mallet and 476 for John Curley – not including hand counts - with the count for Manalapan ongoing and Marlboro and Long Branch left to go.

That puts the Fair Haven candidate for Monmouth County Freeholder in a position to win the election, as Long Branch is heavily Democratic and Mallet scored well in Manalapan and Marlboro in the regular vote count.

Prior to the provisionals process, Mallet led Curley by 18 votes overall: 135,688 to 135,670, in this county of 53 towns.  If Mallet defeats Curley, county control of this longtime Republican stronghold will favor the Democrats by 3-2.

Now on the tattered, unresolved edge of the Nov. 4th election, operatives from both parties sit with two Board of Elections reps from each party and a representative from the state attorney general's office at a long table. They all pour town by town over the provisional ballots.

Sources say Democratic Monmouth County Freeholder candidate Amy Mallet leads Republican candidate John Curley, 274 to 151 votes as of late yesterday.  

That puts Mallet up by 141 votes at the conclusion of yesterday’s Board of Elections provisional ballot count. 

A clerk of elections spokesperson said the counting should be finished sometime this afternoon. If Mallet wins the race, control of the Freeholder Board would shift to the Democrats, 3-2.

The Superintendent of Elections has determined that there are 3,793 provisional ballots pertaining to the Monmouth County Freeholders’ race that the Board of Elections will assess next week, beginning at 9 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 17.

Right now, Democratic candidate Amy Mallet leads Republican candidate John Curley by 18 votes, 135,688 to 135,670, according to the County Clerk’s Office.

FREEHOLD - A Deputy Attorney General is in the Monmouth County Clerk's Office observing as Superintendent of Elections workers at 5 p.m. again began tallying provisional ballots.

Democratic Party representive Michael Mangan and Republican Party representative Rosanne Scotti also stand in the room with the attorney general's office representive and the elections workers.

"All of the material they inventory will go to the Board of Elections where two Republicans and two Democrats will count all of the provisional ballots," said County Clerk Claire French. 

The process could take up to two weeks, according to French.