Gopal: Marlboro is in play

With only $3,000 cash on hand, as of September 30, Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal seems to be abandoning his strategy of concentrating on LD 11, and now appears to be focused on protecting his turf in Marlboro.

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Asbury Park Press Endorses Angelini and Casagrande in LD 11

Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal is having a bad day year.

The Dems have put their eggs in the LD 11 basket this year, hoping to pick off one or two of New Jersey’s only all female legislative delegation in Assemblywomen Mary Pat Angelini and Caroline Casagrande.

Vin made sure that his county candidates for Clerk and Freeholder are residents of the 11th, in hopes that a hometown turnout boost for the county candidates, who are hardly campaigning elsewhere in the county, might help Eric Houghtaling of Neptune and Joann Downey of Freehold over the finish line.

Only in the 11th will you find a typical election year showing of road and lawn signs. Houghtaling and Downey are advertising on ESPN and even FoxNews.

Gopal has historically been able to count on an assist from the Asbury Park Press. Not this year and not where he needs it most.

In endorsing Angelini and Casagrande, APP called them “among the strongest legislators in New Jersey.”

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Monmouth Democrats Endorse Tara Ryan-Killeen In Highlands’ Non-Partisan Council Race

Highlands Councilwoman Tara Ryan. photo via facebook

The Monmouth County Democratic Party has endorsed incumbent Councilwoman Tara Ryan-Killeen for reelection in the non-partisan municipal election in Highlands on November 3.

In a sponsored advertisement on facebook, Chairman Vin Gopal’s organization lists every nominated Democratic candidate in Monmouth County on the County, State and Municipal levels, plus Ryan-Killeen in the non-partisan election in Highlands. The Democrats did not endorse any candidates in the only other non-partisan election this November, in Tinton Falls, which is uncontested.

Incumbent Councilman Kevin Redmond, who ran with Ryan-Killeen as a Democrat when they ran in 2012, did not receive the endorsement of Gopal’s organization.  Highlands changed to non-partisan municipal elections in 2014.

Redmond and Ryan-Killeen appear to be running together, as the share a facebook page, lawn signs and have issued a joint mailer.  However, they have different slogans on the ballot.

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Gopal Surrenders Red Bank

Democratic Councilman Michael DuPont Remains Confident He Will Be Reelected

Vin Gopal: “GOP Will Take Control of Red Bank”

Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal told The Two River Times  that the Republican Party will win control of the Red Bank municipal government in this November’s election.

Gopal, who launched a campaign of personal destruction against Red Bank GOP Chairman Sean DiSomma in 2013 when he issued a false press release asserting that DiSomma, then a candidate for council, had a warrant for his arrest in Texas over an unpaid traffic violation, whines incessantly to TRT reporter John Burton over the video that led to the resignation of Art Murphy from the borough council. Murphy, the Council President at the time of his resignation last week, also resigned his candidacy for reelection.

Gopal apparently has more of a problem with the fact that Murphy was caught vulgarly belittling his constituents than with the former Council President’s actions.  Regardless of whether or not the Republicans released the video, which they deny, they did not fabricate charges, as Gopal did in 2013 against DiSomma.

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Democrats show up for ballot drawing with temperature gun

Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal’s entourage showed up at County Clerk Christine Giordano Hanlon’s office today for the ballot positioning drawing, armed with a space age temperature gun.

Not Linda Baum

Linda Baum, a Middletown Democrat who has twice been defeated for Township Committee, and who got the Middletown Librarian fired when they conspired together to politicize library operations behind the backs of the Library’s Trustees, was on the scene in Freehold to take the temperature of the capsules containing the names Democrat and Republican for the ballot positioning drawing.

Gopal issued a press release this morning wherein he accused former County Clerk M. Claire French of refrigerating the capsules in the past in order that she could pick the cold one to assure the Republicans win the favored ballot position.

Baum, who’s  certification in temperature gun operation is unclear, pointed her gun at the capsules while Bertha Sumick, the Clerk of Elections and a Deputy County Clerk looked on.

Hanlon had recused herself from presiding over the drawing, because she is on the ballot in November.

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What is Vin Gopal running for?

Back in February of 2013, Governor Chris Christie said that Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal practices “the politics of yesterday.”

Gopal had issued a statement threatening Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long with “the restructuring of the Democratic Party in Sea Bright, to ensure that the true voice of Democrats is one that prevails” in response to the news that Long was endorsing Christie’s reelection as governor.

Long has since left the Democratic Party and is running unopposed, as an Independent, for another term as Sea Bright’s mayor. But that is another story.

Since Christie accused Gopal of practicing the politics of yesterday, it has become very clear that Christie was and is practicing politics with an eye towards a future office. Gopal seems to be doing the same.

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Monmouth Dems have not filed Assembly candidates petitions

Trenton, we have a problem

The Monmouth County Democrats held their nominating convention last Monday night at the IBEW Local 400 union hall in Wall Township. However, as of Saturday March 28, no Democratic candidates for Assembly from the four districts that include Monmouth County have filed their nominating petitions with the New Jersey Division of Elections.

The nominating petitions are due with the Divisions of Elections by Monday, March 30th at 4 p.m.  Should no candidates file petitions with 100 valid signatures, the Democratic nominations for Assembly will be up for grabs to write-in candidates in the June 2 primary.

There has been radio silence from Monmouth Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal’s  office and on his blog since the convention on Monday. Even MMM’s spies at the convention have been mum.  The silence has lead many Republicans to speculate that Vin has a problem.

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Hornik’s Republican Administration in Marlboro is Gopal’s top 2015 priority

Updated: Former Marlboro GOP Chairman Christopher Dean wants the world to know that Councilman Scalea was never a Republican and that he has proof from the Board of Elections. Dean says that MMM is spreading Mayor Hornik’s lies and that facts don’t matter on this site. He said he’s going to spread the word at some meetings he has coming up.

Marlboro Mayor Jon Hornik

Desperate to be a player and for a victory of any kind, Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal told a gathering of statewide Democrats in Freehold on Wednesday evening that Marlboro Mayor Jon Hornik’s reelection race is his top priority this year, according to report on PolitickerNJ.

Marlboro is a Republican town. Year after year the Township’s voters break for Republicans for Freeholder, County Constitutional offices, State Legislature, Governor, Congress, Senate and President.

Yet Hornik leads a municipal government that on paper is Democratic.  The reality is that Hornik’s administration is dominated by former Republicans who left a dysfunctional local GOP at the mayor’s urging.

Hornik, whose father Saul was mayor of the community from 1980-1991, was first elected in 2007 in a race remembered for incumbent Republican Robert Kleinberg distributing flyers implying that he had been endorsed by NJ 101.5’s morning host Jim Gearhart.  Gearhart and Gannett columnist Bob Ingle , then media leaders of the GRIP (Get Rid of Incumbent Politicians) movement, went ballistic on Kleinberg.  Kleinberg imploded during a live radio interview wherein he explained the flyers were not meant to imply an endorsement, but as a way to show his kids that people were saying nice things about him.

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Monmouth Dems Meet Tonight To Nominate Their County and Legislative Candidates

The Monmouth County Democrats will hold a “mini-convention” this evening at the IBEW Local 400 Union Hall in Wall Township to formally nominate their slate of County and Legislative candidates for the June 2 primary.

Jeanne Cullinane is challenging Assembly Members Amy Handlin and Declan O’Scanlon in the 13th legislative district

MMM has learned that Hazlet Board of Education member Tom Herman will be a candidate for Assembly in the 13th legislative district, challenging incumbent Republicans Amy Handlin and Declan O’Scanlon. Joining Herman on the Democratic ticket in the 13th will be Jeanne Cullinane, also of Hazlet, a political newcomer.

Cullinane has recently shared posts on facebook that compared Republicans to Iranian terrorists and Polish people to monkeys.

Monmouth County Chairman Vin Gopal has previously announced on his blog that Neptune Township Zoning Board Member Carol Rizzo will challenge incumbent Republican Freeholder John Curley.  There has been speculation that Rizzo was seperated at birth from Rumson Democratic Chairman and former Democratic candidate for Surrogate, Michael Steinhorn.

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Insiders: Monmouth Dems will only compete in LD 11 this year

Vin Gopal

Monmouth County Democratic insiders tell MMM that all Monmouth County and Legislative Republicans except Assemblywomen Caroline Casagrande and Mary Pat Angelini will essentially get a free pass to election this year as Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal has been unable to recruit candidates or raise money for the legislative races in legislative districts 12, 13 and 30, or the County Offices of Freeholder and Clerk.

Gopal is expected to leave the candidate recruitment in LDs 12 and 30 to the other counties included in those districts.  The 30th district, currently represented in the Assembly by Republicans Dave Rible and Sean Kean, has 12 towns in Monmouth County and two in Ocean County. Seven of the fourteen towns in the 12th district are on Monmouth County.  The other seven are split between Burlington, Ocean and Middlesex Counties.  The 12th district is represented by Republicans Ron Dancer and Rob Clifton.

Gopal’s trial balloon last December of making a second run for Assembly in the 11th himself( he ran in 2011) went over like the Hindenburg with State Democrats, other County Chairs and Special Interest donors who he had convinced that the money they invested in Monmouth County last year would lead to a pick up of Freeholder seats.

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