Toms River Council, School Board Election 2024: Election Day Is Here

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Election Day 2024 has arrived at last. For voters who have waited until today to cast their ballots, here are reminders about where to vote and who's on the ballot in Toms River.

Key information

• Election Day: Tuesday, Nov. 5
• Polls open: 6 a.m.-8 p.m.
• Where can I vote in person? Find your polling location online; it also will be on your sample ballot.
• I have a vote-by-mail ballot. How can I return it? Ocean County has 20 ballot drop-box locations. Ballots must be deposited in the dropbox by 8 p.m. Nov. 5
• Mailing it? Ballots must be postmarked by 8 p.m. Nov. 5 and received by the Board of Elections by Nov. 11
• Track your mail-in ballot.

Who Are The Candidates?

In Toms River, two candidates are seeking election to serve out the final year of the Ward 2 council term of Mayor Daniel Rodrick. William Byrne, 82, is running as the Republican candidate after decades as a registered Democrat, and Zachary Dougherty, 23, is the Democratic candidate. Dougherty is a lifelong Toms River resident. Dougherty responded to a candidate questionnaire. Rodrick has declined to provide direct contact information for Byrne.

Read more: Battle Over 1-Year Council Seat Focuses On Toms River's Future

There are three seats up for election on the Toms River Regional Board of Education, two representing Toms River and one representing South Toms River. Seeking the three-year terms for Toms River are four candidates: incumbent Jennifer Howe; Lisa Contessa, who served on the board previously but stepped away for a year; and newcomers Diane Oxley and Maria Marisa Matarazzo. Oxley had run for election to the board in 2023 but was defeated.

The candidates for the South Toms River seat are Krista Whittaker, a regular attendee and speaker at school board meetings, and Joseph Jubert, whose wife Jamie is the borough clerk in South Toms River and served on the Toms River Regional school board years ago.

Contessa, Whittaker and Jubert responded to a Patch questionnaire.

• Toms River School Board Election 2024: Lisa Contessa
• Toms River School Board Election 2024: Joseph Jubert
• Toms River School Board Election 2024: Krista Whittaker

Howe did not respond. Toms River Mayor Dan Rodrick submitted press releases on behalf of Oxley and Matarazzo and declined to provide direct contact information for either candidate.

Read more: Taxes, Budget Argument Focus Of Toms River School Board Election 2024

Here's a quick rundown of the choices that voters will be asked to make on a national, state and county level:

• Presidential race: Residents can either cast a write-in vote or choose between Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, the Democratic candidates, or former President Donald Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, the Republicans. Also running are: Claudia de la Cruz and Karina Garcia, Party for Socialism and Liberation; Rachele Fruit and Margaret Trowe, Socialist Workers Party; Joseph Kishore and Jerry White, Socialist Equality party; Chase Oliver and Mike Ter Maat, Libertarian Party; Jill Stein and Rudolph Ware, Green Party; Randall A. Terry and Stephen E. Broden, U.S. Constitution Party.
  
  Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, will appear on the ballot as independents. While Kennedy withdrew from the race on Aug. 23 and endorsed Trump, it was too late to have his name removed from the ballot in New Jersey, which has a deadline of Aug. 16 for candidates to withdraw. Requests from Kennedy and from the state Democratic Party Committee to remove Kennedy's name were rejected, the New Jersey Globe reported.
• U.S. Senate: The U.S. Senate seat formerly held by Robert Menendez is up for election. Democrat Andy Kim, who has been serving the Third District in the House of Representatives since January 2019, is being challenged for the seat by Republican Curtis Bashaw, a newcomer. Also running for the six-year term are: Kenneth Kaplan, Libertarian Party; Christina Khalil, Green Party; Joanne Kuniansky, Socialist Workers Party; Patricia G. Mooneyham, on the Vote Better slogan.
• U.S. House of Representatives: All 12 House seats in New Jersey are up for election, including the 4th District. Incumbent Republican Chris Smith is seeking his 23rd term in the House. His challengers are Democrat Matthew Jenkins; Barry Bendar of the Green Party, and John Morrison of the Libertarian Party.
• Ocean County: There are two three-year terms up for election on the Board of Commissioners. Republicans Jennifer Bacchione and Robert Arace are being challenged by Democrats Karen Sugden and Regina C. Discenza. Bacchione, who chairs the Berkeley Township Housing Authority, also serves on the Ocean County Board of Health. Her husband is Berkeley Township Mayor John Bacchione. Arace is in his second year as mayor of Manchester Township. The two unseated Barbara Jo "Bobbi Jo" Crea and Gary Quinn in the Republican primary in June. Discenza has run for office before in Lacey Township, and Sugden is making her second bid for office.