TOMS RIVER, NJ – The battle between dueling Republican clubs in Toms River will take center stage at Thursday night’s annual Ocean County GOP convention. At stake is who will control the Republican party in Toms River as the Republicans for Ocean County, a Mo-Hill-aligned political club will fend off a challenge from the Toms River Regular Republican Club. Hill’s club is currently the officially recognized club.
Toms River Mayor Dan Rodrick, working with Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore is working feverishly behind the scenes to get the necessary vote to certify their club.
According to Gilmore, there’s a good chance his affiliated club will win, but he adds, “It will be close.”
As part of the deal between Rodrick and Gilmore, who were at odds in the June primary election, the embattled Toms River mayor will have the majority control of which candidates get the official club screening endorsements during municipal elections. Gilmore’s bylaw changes shift votes on the screening committee to the mayor’s seat. If a Republican mayor is not sitting in the office, those votes will then go to the chair.
That prospect has a lot of people concerned about giving Rodrick too much power in Ocean County Politics. This week Rodrick has been trying to sway Jackson GOP President Mordechai Burnstein to vote in his favor. Burnstein carries a large number of votes at Thursday’s election.
Burnstein said at this time, “We’re not going to get involved in what’s going on in Toms River politics, we’re not commenting on that.”
Burnstein did confirm that he is endorsing the two county commissioner candidates whose names are also up for a vote on Tuesday. At this point, Manchester Mayor Robert Arace and Ocean County GOP Executive Director Jennifer Bacchione appear to be running opposed.
Last week, Ocean County Commissioners Bobbi Jo Crea and Gary Quinn announced they would not be running for re-election after realizing most of the major voting powers at the convention have endorsed their opponents.
For Rodrick and Gilmore to win, they will need to rely on the support of the Lakewood and Jackson Republican Clubs, which carry a large number of votes combined. They will probably not get the votes from the Mo-Hill-aligned club, leaving the duo with a large deficit to cover among the southern Ocean County towns.
Many in the county political circles said that Rodrick’s actions since taking office have raised more than a few eyebrows in the Republican party.