TOMS RIVER, NJ – Toms River is still trying to make sense of a landmark upset by Dan Rodrick in Tuesday’s GOP primary election for mayor. Insiders in the GOP split between Mayor Mo Hill and Geri Ambrosio felt going into Tuesday night’s election; they had the race in the bag.
To their dismay, Rodrick obliterated both splintered factions of the GOP.
Now, Toms River Democrats and some anti-Rodrick Republicans are working together on a plan to defeat Rodrick together in November.
John Furey won the Democrat nomination on Tuesday, but many in the party, including former Toms River Councilman Terrance Turnbach, feel Furey doesn’t have what it takes to defeat Rodrick.
Turnbach made a public plea for Democrats to bench Furey in favor of Jonathan Petro, a lawyer for the influential Democrat party-aligned law firm of Carluccio, Leone, and Doyle.
In order to defeat Rodrick, Democrats will need the support of the Orthodox Jewish bloc vote. Petro lost a close election to Mo Hill in 2019, but it is unlikely that the ultra-religious bloc vote will show up to support a progressive liberal candidate whose platform is counter to many religious values within that community.
Instead, Jewish community leaders are still recovering from the embarrassment of backing Geri Ambrosio, who lost nearly 2-1 to Rodrick on Tuesday. Leaders are hinting they may not endorse any candidates in November at this point.
In order for Furey, Petro or any other Democrat to win, they will need to garner the full endorsement and support of the bloc vote that opposed Rodrick and win over Democrats and moderates who will most likely support Rodrick’s anti-overdevelopment platform.
Most political pundits and political reporters predict Rodrick will win in a landslide in November regardless of who his Democrat opponent is.