The Monmouth County GOP advisory committee will meet tonight to choose the party endorsed candidates for the June primary.
Coming off dominating performances at the Middlesex County GOP Convention, Scott Sipprelle and Diane Gooch have to be considered the favorites in congressional 12 and 6 respectively. If Gooch and Sipprelle win the primaries, expect a Washington vs. Wall Street theme in the general election.
Shaun Golden will be unopposed for the sheriff's nomination.
The only suspense of the night will be the selection of a Freeholder candidate to be incumbent Rob Clifton's running mate. The favorites are Neptune City Mayor Tom Arnone and former Middletown Committeeman Tom Wilkens. Spring Lake Councilman Gary Rich has yet to figure out how to garner countywide support within the party.
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29 comments:
seems like a fair and open process you reps run. pathetic
Is the Monmouth County GOP advisory committee meeting also open to the general public (similar to the Middlesex County GOP convention)?
I am really curious as to who is going to win the Freeholder nod. I am hoping Wilkens gets it- sounds like he's the favorable choice. He's the kind of candidate we need in order to do the job to beat Flippy.
Art, will you report the blow-by-blow as you did in Middlesex?
Is it secret ballot?
If not, all hell is gonna break loose.
Didn't Halfacre co-chair the Finance Gala?
Unless someone is making 'a deal' behind the scenes....it's gonna be something.
Exact time and place of Monmouth meeting? Will Art have a mole to report play by play and/or results?
My understanding is Monmouth process is a screening committee/private event not an "open to the public" meeting/convention. Correct? Anyone know how many invited to this?
Art,
disagree with your analysis on the 12th. Halfacre should win Monmouth County as a favorite son. He is being backed by some heavy hitters in the Monmouth County Republican party.
I predict he wins the line with at least 60% of the votes.
Gooch / Little is different. Both are Monmouth County people.
Gooch is viewed as a team player and many Monmouth County politicians have recieved money from her ( unlike Sipperelle who started spreading $ a little late in the game)and are beholden to her.
Plus Anna has shown he will buck the party and is therefore unpopular with our so called leaders. I expect Anna will get the majority of the municipal chairs but that Gooch will get a majority of the far larger group of elected and former elected officials and win the line.
I predict that Arnone will win the Line for freeholder. He has been working for it queitly behind the scenes for some time and is generally known as likable, smart and intelligent. He has been in politics longer then Wilkens and as a result probably has a better skill set for dealing with that narcissistic, ego-maniacal group we fondly refer to as the Board of Chosen Freeholders ( or is that Frozen Cheeseholders). In any event I think Tom Arnone will take the nomination because of all the hard work he has done ( note to wilkens, don't take it too hard, It looks like you have a lot of potential. if you are serious about a political career keep consistnetly working it and expand your base outside of Middletown.
it should be an interesting primary season.
Dominating performance by Gooch ? I am not sure if you are speaking of someone else named Gooch ? That is a total spin. Gooch spoke in Hazlet last week. Her speech was poor. She is not articulate and not a great speaker. She is not aware of the issues. She is very likable (most politicians are) and has donated alot of money but a strong speaker ? absolutley not ! She might win. Best choice does not always win. Self service is a factor always. Has millions of dollars to spend. Does she look like a politician or speak like one ? no way. As far as Wilkens vs. Arnone ? Wilkens is better qualified but Arnone may have more support.
Gooch has very apparent weaknesses: her presentation style, formal education is lacking, no government exp., articulation is very poor, and knowledge of all the issues is absent. Can we secretly agree that she is not qualified but has alot of money to spend ? Shame on the Republican party for overlooking all of these weaknesses for big dollars to spend.
Why waste your time.
1.Sipprelle Wins-Why because Mike is Cocky and has yet to win anything.The foul winds of Middlesex blow south,if it wasn't a silent vote we would hear Mike say" ET Tu Brute"
2.Gooch-She has bought this party fair and square.Hopefully she will progress from her last speech which sounded like she was running for the Rumson Soccer mom's League Presidency instead of Congress.This is big time Mrs Gooch,your loot will not buy voters,only the Monmouth Steering Committee and its chairman are available for sale.Oops,excuse me I meant bought and sold.You had better hope Anna does not run in a primary or as a Tea Party candidate.
3.Wilkens wins by virtue of Middletown Strength.
There you have it.If I were a committee person I would ask myself why do I do all the work for this party.Joe Oxley get ready to explain yourself when the top of your ticket goes down in flames and takes some of our players along with her.The first question any chair should ask is what is best for this party.
What happened to Cristine Hanlon?????? Heard her name alot and was supposed to be a player in the next election then fell off the face of the earth. Shame because she has or had potential.
Sipprelle, Gooch, Arnone, Of course Golden,
although I'd like to see Anna Little, I really like her and if they gave her a chance she would do it, but I think the $$$ means more to the party at this time,with the economy being what it is, contributions low.
Wilkens will dissappoint if he gets the line (no fault of his own), I'd leave Middletown out of it this year all together, if you want to win!
maybe we can get Vincent Solomeno to run LOL
Solomeno is 25 years old ? How smart is someone if they expect a 24/25 year old to run the entire county ? Wake up people.
about 97, with all town chairs,current and former elected officials, county level and up,2 st. committee, and past county chairs supposedly invited.. in past, Affiliated Club and Women's Federation had votes, not so this year.. with the rain and at night, expect maybe 65-70 to show at the American Hotel in Freehold at 7,to listen and vote.. hope they think smart,and do the right thing.. Go, Tom Arnone!
2:33: unfortunately, your points have merit..biggest or not, many are sick of "Middletown County,NJ".. we really ought to go to a ward system, if this goes on again, because all areas of the county need input!!
65-70 people will show up tonight, they'll listen to the candidates, evaluate their credentials, and whoever has more money will get the line.
or, worse, whoever stands to help some MAKE more money, will get the line..
When other towns start carrying their weight in votes, then maybe they can have a shot at it too. Middletown is not only the largest town in the county, but it consistently delivers the most Republican votes despite its split R/D registration numbers it hugely outperforms towns that have a 2-1 R/D registration advantage.
it's up to individual, it's secret ballot so not about money or anything, it's about who each person likes best.
as if you can't combine towns: it's a supposed, "easier" way-out for those in charge, but they forget that our voters are much more prone to educate themselves and pick and choose by person, not necessarily go down a line,any more: witness the past few freeholder years, in which we lost the majority,picked-off one-by-one!..this all while Middletown had it's own problems, lost their own local majority, then came back..bull!
Middletown hasn't lost its Republican majority since the 1980s.
You can't carry Monmouth County without a huge majority from Middletown. Like it or not. Arnone will be a splendid choice for the APP. How long until they figure out that Malcolm Carton is his local chairman and start saying that he is running for Malcolm?
wow, such jaded,sour grapes. it's your/our job now,to get behind the guy who worked the hardest,plain and simple, for God's sake!..just because the guy is from the same town as the now-out Carton,, nobody else but you cares, that was a lame excuse..we have lots to do for this largely- unknown ticket: only Rob's the incumbent: from tonight on, it's all-for-one and one-for-all, for each of us !
I didn't find Gooch to be pleasant. I found her to be arrogant. As a speaker, she is awful and she has no command of the issues. But she bought the chairman and she bought her votes. Call me when the party decides to do the right thing
I agree and it is very upsetting as a long time Republican. Gooch has done a few presentations and all were very elementary, no grasp of the issues that affect us. Gooch has an Associates degree and has no governement exp. The Republicans are seeing money as a strength and that is not fair to NJ.
all true, but, let's face it- we're all-in, if we are to be successful, especially for the county...in 28 of 53 towns we'll see her name, like it or not..hey,let's offer makeover, elocution, issues and campaign management lessons/discussions.. she and the high-priced consultants really should listen up,though they likely will not, and seek out the war stories and experiences of "real folks" out here, in the hinterlands, who've worked,and toiled and scraped and pushed, against big odds, for a few of these suckers!!..NO time to re-invent the wheel, here, in 6,especially!..
I've always suggested that the next victim/challenger to Pallone ought to buy drinks and invite to a mtg., every single Republican who's lost to him, since 1983 with the 11th dist. st. senate upset..what are the common threads and obstacles, what can THIS one do to actually take him down?..etc..every year's different, but there will be past mistakes that can be avoided, and strategies that MAY be able to , in this scary year, finally sound his political death knell!
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