John Pallone Team To Challenge Schneider In 2018 Election

LONG BRANCH, NJ - City Councilman John Pallone will once again challenge long-term Mayor Adam Schneider in the non-partisan race for the mayoral seat in May.

Schneider is seeking his eighth mayor term, according to a report in the Asbury Park Press.

Pallone - who is the brother of U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-NJ - first ran against Schneider back in 1994 and lost. He returned to city politics in 2010 when he won a City Council seat.

Pallone is running with a five-member team that includes incumbent Councilwoman Mary Jane Celli. Celli ran for council Pallone's ticket in 1994 and was the only candidate to win.

Both Pallone and Celli ran on Schneider's team in 2014 and won re-election to the council.

Schneider wants to know why Pallone and Celli are running against him. Pallone has voted with him on every redevelopment deal with the exception of South Beach. Celli has voted with Schneider on all of them, the mayor said.

"If they thought things needed to be done differently where were they?" said Schneider.

Pallone said in his campaign announcement that Long Branch needs to do a better job negotiating developers' agreements.

"If they thought things needed to be done differently where were they?" said Schneider.

The rest of Pallone's team includes Bill Dangler, Rose DeMarco Widdis, Mario Vieira and Anita Voogt. All five are running for City Council.

The mayor and all five council seats are up for election, which will take place May 8.

None of the candidates have filed with the City Clerk, yet. The deadline is March 5. The candidates must get 147 signatures to run.

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