TOMS RIVER, NJ – The Toms River Regular Republican Club, decertified by the Ocean County GOP, has announced their off-line challengers to the Ocean County GOP’s party line. Former GOP President Geri Ambrosio, recently hired to a political patronage job in Berkeley Township by Mayor Carmen Amato, has been endorsed by club members to run for mayor.
Former gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli, who lost to Governor Phil Murphy in 2021, was on hand to support the candidates. Leaders of the Toms River Jewish Community Council also joined the candidates.
Joining Ambrosio is Sergio Fossa, who lost a bid for County Commissioner in 2022, getting just 38% of the vote. Fossa will run for a seat on the Toms River Township Council.
Gerry Mundy, who served as current mayor Maurice Hill’s in-house attorney before retiring in 2020, is also running for council with Ambrosio. After losing her position at the Toms River tax board, Ambrosio was hired by Berkeley Township Mayor Carmen Amato to serve as that town’s new Tax Assessor.
Ambrosio’s last speech at a public government meeting was a bizarre one.
In October, Ambrosio lashed out at Toms River Fire Department commissioners after she was removed as a judge from the 2022 Halloween Parade.
Ambrosio said her ex-husband, Craig Ambrosio, a former fire commissioner and on the committee to select judges, was motivated by sour grapes to remove her from her role as a judge in the parade, which she had held allegedly since 1998 through her political and marital affiliations.
“The only reason I was given for this decision was that he was angry that I had openly discussed his affair with [an employee of the Toms River FireDistrict],” Ambrosio said at the fire commissioner’s meeting.
She said her ex-husband, who she alleged is now dating a fire department employee, kicked her out as a judge.
“He should not use his position on the parade committee to retaliate against me,” she told commissioners. Ambrosio alleged the affair had been going on since at least 2019.
In 2022, Ambrosio hosted a campaign fundraiser for the decertified club where members of the Proud Boys, a group deemed to be a far-right group, were in force to support convicted political lobbyist Roger Stone.
