Red Bank 2022 Election Results: Nonpartisan Government Gets OK

Editor's note: These are unofficial results were last updated at 10:30 p.m.

RED BANK, NJ — In Red Bank, voters were asked to decide whether to change the borough's form of government and they answered with a resounding "Yes" vote.

As of 10:30 p.m., the vote to change the form of government to a nonpartisan, Council-Manager one was 1,947 for to 905 against the change, or 68 percent in favor.

Democrat Billy Portman was unopposed for mayor, and won 2,277 votes as of the time noted above.

Democrats Angela Mirandi and John Jackson were leading Republicans Mark Taylor and Jonathan Penney.

Here is the unofficial vote tally:

Mirandi, 1,662 votes; Jackson, 1,648; Taylor, 1,497; Penney, 1,403.

Apart from the change of government referendum, the divisiveness on the all-Democratic Borough Council has been a major issue in the campaign.

The Democratic Committee in town, formerly led by Councilman Ed Zipprich, did not support Mayor Pat Menna for re-election, favoring Councilman Michael Ballard, a supporter of Zipprich.

That prompted the challenge from Billy Portman, a newcomer to politics, who defeated Ballard in the June primary largely on a platform to change to nonpartisan government. Ballard opposed the move to a nonpartisan form.

Portman ran unopposed for mayor in this majority Democratic town.

Zipprich lost county committee party seats and was himself dethroned as Red Bank's Democratic chairman in favor of Councilwoman Kate Triggiano.

But party politics may become, at least on the face of it, less of a force in a nonpartisan government.

Both Portman and the Republicans Taylor and Penney supported a change to nonpartisan government.

The Democratic candidates, incumbent Councilwoman Mirandi and her running mate Jackson, did not endorse a change but did not openly oppose it either.

Portman said the percentage of votes - 68 percent - for the change of government nearly matched the percentage of residents who voted in 2021 for the Charter Study Commission to study a change to Red Bank's form of government.

Voters were asked in the referendum whether to approve a change to Red Bank's form of government from the Borough form to the Council-Manager form under the Optional Municipal Charter Law, commonly known as the Faulkner Act.

Under this form, Red Bank will be governed by a council of seven members, which includes a directly elected mayor, who serves as a voting member of the council. The council will exercise legislative powers and set municipal policy for Red Bank. The council will appoint a municipal manager, who will exercise all executive and administrative powers.

Winners of last night's election will be installed Jan. 1, 2023.

But the first municipal election under the new form of government will be held on May 9, 2023, and the new Mayor and Council members would be installed on July 1, 2023.

After that initial May election that is required under the law, Portman said he supports a return to a November date for future elections for the council.