TOMS RIVER, NJ – Republican party leaders in Ocean County came together Wednesday night in Toms River in a show of support for mayoral candidate Dan Rodrick. Earlier in the day, his opponent, radical progressive Democrat Benjamin Giovine boasted that he had the public support of Mo Hill-aligned Republicans, but Wednesday night countered that claim.
Approximately 200 Republican elected officials from Ocean County and party leaders attended a meet and greet event with Rodrick at Villa Malfi, an Italian restaurant on Route 166, including those loyal to Hill and Geri Ambrosio in the June GOP primary election.
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“There’s a myth that the Toms River Republican party is split and tonight shows that that’s not true,” Rodrick told the audience. “And if we’re not, we definitely will be after the Democrats announced that radical left-wing extremist Ben Giovine is running against me.”
Rodrick said Giovine’s entry into the race will polarize the majority of Toms River against the Democrat party operative who works for far-left progressive Congressman Andy Kim.
Kim, who once ran a left-wing radical ‘uprising’ group called “Rise Stronger” calling for a socialist revolution used to represent Toms River in Congress until a realignment last year. In a rally against former Toms River area Congressman Tom MacArthur, Kim supporters waved banners with community propaganda and Soviet Union flags in front of the former Congressman’s office in downtown Toms River.
Rise Stronger was a group that called for a leftist, progressive revolution in the United States. It operated in secret until in 2018, the campaign for his opponent Tom MacArthur discovered its existence. That group was closely linked to radical Democrats looking to unseat former President Donald Trump.
“Ben Giovine is a radical who runs the Toms River Democrat party that supported downtown apartments, house of worship zoning to 1 acre, high-density affordable housing and while he was a school board member in Toms River, our taxes went up every single year he was in office,” Rodrick said.
Giovine is hoping to defeat Rodrick by working with local Orthodox Jewish community leaders upset with Rodrick’s anti-development campaign mailers. Two years ago, Giovine’s boss Kim penned a letter calling for Rodrick to be fired at his job as a school teacher in Middletown because he opposed high-density housing and overdevelopment.
“Not only are Republicans going come out against Giovine, most independents will oppose his radical agenda and I even think a lot of Democrats will vote me now too,” Rodrick said.
“Giovine represents the extreme far left-wing of the Democrat party,” Rodrick added. “They want to come after your gas cars, your gas heat, your gas stoves, gas grills, and even the meat you cook on those grills.”
Rodrick said Givione’s agenda is too radical, even for many Democrats in Toms River to stomach, citing that while in Washington, D.C., Giovine’s boss, Andy Kim pals around with the likes of Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Ilhan Omar.
During his speech, he thanked his family, his running mates, and the Ocean County GOP for coming together in support of his campaign.
Giovine claims some members of the Republican party still upset with Rodrick’s victory over Hill in June are supporting him. That was not evident on Wednesday night. Giovine also claimed privately that he has the full support of the Orthodox Jewish community in his run for mayor, however the community has not made any announcements or endorsements at this time.
This week, Giovine criticized Rodrick’s stance on overdevelopment and houses of worship, saying Rodrick’s tone equaled the racist and homophobic remarks of his own running mates.
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