Cory booker's intern is running for office in toms river

Toms River, NJ—The Toms River Democrats have replaced Susan Payne Gato on the November ballot for the Ward 2 election with a far more progressive liberal candidate. The move comes after Gato, according to party insiders, was seen as too moderate by Democrats aligned with former Mayor Maurice Hill, Terrance Turnbach, and Laurie Hawryk.

All three of those politicians no longer serve in office after residents rallied against their plans to turn downtown Toms River into a small city.

The announcement was made days after Rodrick announced he had killed that team’s plan to build a massive downtown apartment hi-rise project.

A former intern of U.S. Senator Cory Booker, Zachary Dougherty, was named as Gato’s replacement, even though Gato won the party’s June primary election and after seeing that Gato had polled poorly against William Byrne, Democrats, like those at the national level, pulled the plug on Gato’s campaign.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Dougherty works as a community organizer at the League of Women Voters of New Jersey. He previously interned for New Jersey U.S. Senator Cory Booker until last May. He previously interned for U.S. Democrat Congressman Andy Kim.

He served as vice chair and president of the New Jersey High School Democrats and was a county recruiter for Governor Phil Murphy’s campaign.

Last month, Doughtery and his organization pushed to register 600 new citizens to vote after a historic immigrant citizenship ceremony in Trenton.

Shore News Network Latest posts

Phil Stilton is the Editor and Publisher of Shore News Network, an independent digital newsroom providing original reporting on New Jersey, national news, government, public policy, public safety, courts, and community affairs.

As founder of the publication, Stilton leads editorial strategy, investigative reporting, and daily newsroom operations while overseeing coverage that reaches millions of readers annually.

With extensive experience covering municipal government, county government, state legislatures, elections, law enforcement, emergency management, and public records, Stilton specializes in translating complex government actions into clear, factual reporting. His work frequently relies on primary source documents, including court filings, legislation, public meeting records, election finance disclosures, government databases, police reports, and Freedom of Information and Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests. He has reported extensively on local government accountability, taxpayer spending, campaign finance, public corruption investigations, infrastructure, public safety, and the policies affecting New Jersey residents.

Under Stilton's editorial leadership, Shore News Network has grown into one of New Jersey's largest independent digital news organizations, publishing thousands of original news articles each year while providing breaking news coverage, investigative reporting, and analysis across state and local government. The publication's reporting is routinely sourced from official government agencies, public officials, court records, and firsthand documentation, with a commitment to transparency, attribution, corrections when warranted, and clearly distinguishing factual reporting from opinion.

Stilton's journalism follows established newsroom standards emphasizing accuracy, verification, fairness, and accountability. Every effort is made to verify information through official records and multiple reliable sources before publication. His reporting is intended to provide readers with timely, well-documented information that helps them understand the issues affecting their communities, while maintaining editorial independence from political parties, government agencies, advocacy organizations, and commercial interests.

Readers can submit story tips, corrections, public records, or media inquiries through the official Shore News Network website or its verified social media channels. Shore News Network welcomes corrections and updates when new information becomes available as part of its ongoing commitment to accurate and transparent journalism.