TOMS RIVER, NJ – The Toms River and Ocean County Democrats are scrambling after learning Councilman Dan Rodrick defeated both factions of the feuding Ocean County GOP on Tuesday night.
Rodrick and his team defeated incumbent Republicans for Toms River led by Mayor Maurice Hill and a Toms River GOP led by Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore, who supported Geri Ambrosio for mayor.
While the landslide victory was a stunning blow to establishment Republicans engaged in a five-year feud, it was also a shock to the system of local Democrats.
Democrats were hoping for a Hill victory because the embattled mayor would have been easily defeated by the party’s nominee for mayor, John Furey.
Now, Democrats are scrambling to find a replacement for Furey, one who has the stomach to challenge an extremely popular Republican official, Rodrick, in a majority Republican town.
Rodrick, who ran on issues such as overdevelopment, quality of life, and opposing a plan to turn downtown Toms River into a small city, is expected to defeat any Democrat in a landslide in November easily.
Democrats have been running in circles since Tuesday, trying to find a replacement for Furey. Names of those approached include former Toms River Councilman Terrance Turbach and former mayoral candidate Jonathan Petro.
The problem is, no matter who the Democrats run in November, they are likely to lose and endure a grueling five-month campaign against the populist candidate who is expected to pull votes from both Democrats and Independents.
Turnbach was one of the Toms River council members who supported Mayor Mo Hill’s downtown redevelopment plan. Turnbach was also extremely critical of Rodrick, voting to censure the councilman for his opposition to ‘Lakewood Style Development,’ claiming Rodrick was anti-semitic. Turnbach also orchestrated a failed plan to petition the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General to shut down Shore News Network and investigate a criminal probe against Rodrick over his political platform. He lost his bid for re-election in 2021.
Turnbach supported building a countywide homeless shelter. Proposed sites for Turnbach’s homeless shelter included a county-owned plot of land south of the Toms River Department of Public Works on Church Road, a site in his own neighborhood near Downtown Toms River, and a horse farm owned by the township on Old Freehold Road.
Petro, who lost to Mo Hill in 2019, also supported a massive urban redevelopment and shared Turnbach’s views on building a homeless shelter in Toms River.
Insiders in the Toms River Democrat Club said finding a replacement who wants to go head-to-head against Rodrick in November has proved to be a difficult endeavor.
Democrats are hoping to gain the support of the Jewish community’s bloc vote, who shunned Rodrick during the election and instead chose to unite against Rodrick, voting for Ambrosio. Hill received nearly 50% of the total vote on Tuesday, with the remaining 50% split between Ambrosio, Hill, and Robert Bianchini, leaving the Republican establishment in total shock after the votes were tallied.
Some Republicans in Toms River who were on the losing side in Tuesday night’s election have hinted they will support Democrats to spite Rodrick in November, including one Ocean County Commissioner close to Mo Hill.
Insiders have told Shore News Network that Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore has been talking to Democrat candidates to challenge Rodrick. Gilmore, on Friday, denied those allegations saying he is supporting Dan Rodrick for Mayor and the entire Republican line.
But many within the party question the chairman’s loyalty to the candidates, especially those he opposed just a week ago when he ran challengers in Toms River and Point Pleasant. The defeats in Toms River and Point Pleasant gave the chairman a political black eye.