TOMS RIVER, NJ – The Ocean County GOP, despite its recent fracture at the hands of former Chairman Frank B. Holman remains one of the largest and most successful political organizations in New Jersey. Only one major town in the county is Democrat-controlled and the rest of the county is solidly Republican.
Newly re-elected Chairman George Gilmore has just announced $250,000 in fundraising since he was elected in July and Republican candidates under the party banner are once again expected to sweep elections countywide in November.
That’s why today, when rumors spread about New Jersey Assemblyman Greg McGuckin and Toms River Mayor Maurice Hill forming a new Ocean County GOP organization were spread, most county officials laughed off the ‘fake news’.
The Ocean County Board of Commissioners has indicated they will remain united under the Ocean County GOP banner as has most every mayor, councilman, state senator, assemblyman and congressman in the county. Heck, even Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy has made amends with his election opponent, George Gilmore.
It appears that the ambition to create a new party was inspired simply by the sour grapes and vitriol spread by McGuckin, Hill and their close supporters. County officials have no intention of following the pair and their band of soured politicians off another political cliff, according to sources within the party.
McGuckin was a key player in the divisive split of the Ocean County GOP over the past three years. Now, he appears to be standing on a very small island of his own. Many in the party are eager to come back together and to live in peace, but McGuckin is being driven by fear of losing the more than $1.4 million in annual public pay-to-play contracts his firm receives from Ocean County public entities. McGuckin also knows the writing is on the wall. He most likely will not be endorsed by the GOP in the 2023 election cycle, which is why it is in his best interest in creating a new GOP organization.