MANCHESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ – Days after mailing a campaign newspaper to residents, Donald Trump supporting candidate Robert Arace appears to have defeated incumbent Republican Mayor Robert Hudak.
The Arace vs. Hudak campaign pitted rival factions of the Ocean County GOP against each other. Arace was backed by Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore. Hudak was backed by former loyalists of former GOP Chairman Frank B. Holman.
In this race, the Gilmore team narrowly defeated the Holman team as the final votes were tallied at around 9:38 pm.
Hudak held a large lead after mail-in ballots were counted. He lost to Arace by a 5205 to 4,843 margin. There are still provisional ballots and last-minute mail-in ballots left to be counted.
At this time, Arace leads by 362 votes. His running mates, Joseph T. Hankins and Roxanne Coniff, also lead their opponents, Joan Brush and Timothy Poss.
The Arace victory is another crushing defeat for political consultant Chris Russell of Checkmate Wins! Checkmate has lost another big race in the Republican stronghold of Ocean County.
The defeat is also a setback for New Jersey Assemblyman Greg McGuckin and lawyer Jerry Dasti, who are the remnants of the former Holman leadership regime, continuing to wage a civil war within the Ocean County Republican party.