Monmouth Democrats Focus On “Building Block” Election

A trying night for Monmouth County Democrats as Governor Christie and county Republicans steamroll in their respective election.

Governor Christie as well as the Freeholder and Sheriff incumbents defeated their Democratic challengers. However the Democrats were able to come out with some key victories and maintain morale.

During an election celebration at the Tides Hotel in Asbury, party chairman Vin Gopal says their future will depend on building the Democratic base by winning on the municipal level and working from there.

Gopal noted even though it was a “building block” year, the party still came away with some major victories. “We won seats for the first time in Union Beach and Allentown. We were also successful in re-electing incumbents in tough races in Aberdeen, Manasquan, Belmar, and Marlboro.”

He noted the victories in Union Beach are very important, especially on the heels of recent victories in nearby towns like Hazlet, Keansburg, and Neptune City. Gopal points out many of these communities have a large working class population that “work hard and believe in the Democratic principles.”

“Democrats have to show that we’re not this mantra of ‘tax and spend’. We’re for small business, I’m a small business owner, I have to make payroll every two weeks” said the chairman.

Though the governor’s dominance in the polls had resounding effects on local races, the Democrats are looking forward to the next election when a popular name like Cory Booker or Frank Pallone can sit on the top of the ticket.

“At the end of the day, we did fine. I think we’re going to end evening out the number of incumbents we lost and gained. So in a year like this when the top of the ticket is getting 25% or more, we would be expecting the Republicans to be sweeping all their seats, and that didn’t happen.” Said Gopal.