TOMS RIVER, NJ – Toms River is a majority Republican town, but Toms River Democrats running for office against Dan Rodrick for mayor are coming out of the gates with a strong progressive leaning.
Democrat John Furey is running for council along with his team of progressive, Phil Murphy style Democrats.
This week, the team attended and boasted after the town’s annual gay pride celebration and then celebrated the Juneteenth holiday.
On Monday, Furey and his team celebrated Juneteenth.
Last weekend, Furey and his team canvassed the Toms River Pride event in Downtown Toms River along with state Democrats seeking to unseat Republicans in Ocean County.
“Toms River Pride was a great event and we loved talking to some voters! Pictured are LD-9 and LD-10 State Senate Candidates Gabe Franco and Jeff Horn along with Furey Team TR members Michele Williams and Kajal La,” Furey’s team posted on Facebook.
Furey’s team is powered by powerful Democrat powerbroker Steven Leone who’s downtown Toms River law firm represents the Toms River School Board.
Laurie Huryk, a former councilwoman who once said “Toms River is too white” is also working behind the scenes on the Furey campaign.
Democrats are split however.
Some Democrats are pushing to remove Furey from the ticket for either former Councilman Terrance Turnbach or former Democrat candidate Jonathan Petro.
The Democrats are going to challenge Republican nominee Dan Rodrick, who is the favorite to win in November in what is looking to be a fierce campaign.
Democrats are hoping also to win over the Orthodox Jewish bloc vote which opposed Rodrick in the GOP primary election. The Toms River Jewish Community Council and local officials branded Rodrick’s campaign against “Lakewood Style Delopment” as antisemitic.
Furey himself penned a letter criticizing the use of the words “Lakewood Style Development” as being harmful hate speech.
Rodrick responded by saying his campaign against overdevelopment is focused on high density housing in Toms River’s densley populated neighbor, Lakewood Township.