Manasquan and Belmar: Doherty Holds on for Mayor as Both Towns Go to the Democrats

With a technical glitch delaying results in Monmouth County, Belmar went to sleep last night unsure if Mayor Doherty had enough votes to retain his position. This morning, the town knows he did.

Democrat Mayor Matt Doherty won against former Councilman and Republican Jim Bean with 55% of the vote. Doherty’s running mate, Thomas Brennan, squeezed in to the council with him, with 50.46% of the vote, to the Republican candidate Michael Seebeck’s 49.45%. Results can be found on the county election site.

Patch spoke with Mayor Doherty, who expressed gratitude for the voters who turned out in support of him for mayor.

“I’m honored to be reelected for another term, and thrilled that my running mate Tom Brennan made it in with me. We now have five Democrats on the council, and zero Republicans,” Doherty said. Former Councilman Bean had been the lone Republican on the Borough Council.

“We hope that some of the drama that took place in the council the last few years will now be eliminated, and we can get done what the residents need us to do,” Doherty said.

Also reelected were three members of the Board of Education in Belmar: Mark Furey, Mark Walsifer, and Rebecca Herbert.

Manasquan Elects Two Democrats

Manasquan also went to the Democrats, with Councilman Michael Mangan reelected, and fellow Democrat Jim Reed elected alongside him.

For the Board of Education, Manasquan has three new members: results show Colleen Smith, Linda DiPalma, and Eugene Cattani as voted to the Board.

Election results can be found here: http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Monmouth/54229/147906/Web01/en/summary.html