BODY POLITIC

MONMOUTH GOP IN CHAOS?

If you are a Republican in Monmouth County, this is either the best of times or the worst of times. Actually, the worst of times was last spring when several of the party faithful breached the public trust. But for sheer entertainment, this spring is turning out to be a real doozy.

Many insiders consider the Monmouth GOP to be in utter chaos. Other insiders view recent events as part of the open process that Fred Niemann promised when he took over as County Chairman in 2004. Still others in the party don’t even know who the insiders are any more!

Needless to say, the GOP landscape is a moving target at best.

For starters, several local municipal chairmen have called for the resignation of Chairman Niemann over the PAC issue. At the same time, there are seven candidates seeking the nomination to replace Freeholder Ted Narozanick on the GOP ticket this fall. In another race, there may or may not be three candidates running for the Republican nomination for County Surrogate.

Adding to the confusion is a nominating convention slated for Saturday April 8 th. At that meeting, candidates for the fall ticket will be picked by the GOP County Committee. Or they may be picked by the County Committee plus elected Republican officials from the 52 municipalities. At that time, Howell Mayor Joe Dibella may still be a candidate for Freeholder and Surrogate Marie Muhler may have kept her hat in the ring or she may have decided to retire from politics.

What it adds up to is a puzzle. We have a convention slated for April 8 th, but no one knows the rules yet- or who makes the rules. Some of the declared candidates don’t even know who is allowed to vote on their nomination! We have two candidates for county office that have declared themselves out only to reverse course, while others filed papers and are waiting to see who drops out.

The casual observer might say the party is in disarray. The loyal Republican says that it is refreshing to see such interest in our county party and these tussles will make our party stronger in November. Either way, speculation and rumors are running wild in Republican circles and it will be interesting to see how it all turns out over the next several weeks.