Few contested political races in local towns

Red Bank will have the only contested race for Borough Council seats among local towns in the November elections, with Republicans trying to regain a presence on the governing body.

In Tinton Falls, election season winds up earlier, with municipal elections to be held April 21. Races for both the mayor's post and two council seats are under way in that borough.

In Red Bank, two three-year terms are up for election on the Borough Council, currently an all-Democrat body.

Democratic incumbents Michael R. DuPont, South Street, the current council president, and Arthur V. Murphy III, Prospect Street, have filed to run for reelection.

The Republican Party will try to win back the two council seats that were lost when Democrats swept the race in November 2008, winning the two council seats that were up for election, which had been held by Republicans.

The incumbents will be challenged by Republicans Joseph Mizzi, Leroy Place, and Kim Senkeleski, John Street, who are unopposed in the primary.

The Borough of Tinton Falls operates under the mayor-council form of government pursuant to the Faulkner Act, and has

a nonpartisan form of government.

Incumbent Mayor Peter Maclearie is running for re-election to a second term and is being challenged by Deputy Council President Michael Skudera.

Up for election are two council seats currently held by Skudera and Paul Ford, who is not running for re-election.

Running with Maclearie for Borough Council are Michael Stanton, a Planning Board alternate, and Robert Harvey. Running with Skudera for council seats are Scott Larkin and Nancyanne Fama.

There are no contested primaries for the legislative races in Sea Bright, Little Silver, Shrewsbury Borough, Fair Haven and Rumson.

Primaries will take place June 2 and the general elections will be held Nov. 3.

In Sea Bright, two three-year terms on the council are up for election and one member of each party had filed to run by the deadline.

Incumbent Democrat Dina Long, Ocean Avenue, and incumbent Republican William J. Keeler, Ocean Avenue, will run unopposed in the primary.

Two Democratic incumbents lost their council seats to Republican challengers in the November election, giving the GOP a five-to-one majority on the Sea Bright Borough Council, which had previously been evenly split. Mayor Maria Fernandes is a Democrat.

Little Silver has two three-year seats up for election on the Borough Council.

In the Republican primary, incumbents Jonathan Bitman, Windsor Drive, and David E. Gilmour, Lippincott Road, filed to run. No Democrats filed to run in the primary election.

The November 2008 election was the Little Silver's first contested election in at least a decade, and a Democrat and an independent candidate unseated two incumbent Republicans. The four other council members are Republicans, as is Mayor Suzanne Castleman.

A full slate of incumbents will run unopposed for two council seats and the mayor's spot in Shrewsbury's Republican primary.

Republican Mayor Terel Cooperhouse, of Samara Drive, will face no challenger for the unexpired term of former Mayor Emilia Siciliano, who resigned in December. GOP Councilmen Don Burden, Sycamore Avenue, and Matthew Keegan, Borden Street, also will run unopposed, for two three-year terms.

In Fair Haven, two three-year terms are up for election on the all-Republican Borough Council. Republican incumbent Benjamin Lucarelli, Katherine Street, and newcomer Robert Marchese, Third Street, filed to run in the GOP primary. No Democrats filed to run in that party's primary. Mayor Michael Halfacre is a Republican.

In Oceanport, two council seats are up for election. Council President William Johnson, a Republican, is seeking re-election to a three-year term. Fellow Republican Gerald Bertekap, a former fire chief and current member of the Planning Board who ran unsuccessfully two years ago in a close race, is seeking the council seat currently held by John "Ted" Ibex, a Democrat, who is not seeking re-election. The Democratic Party did not file any petitions for council.

The six-member council is made up of four Republicans and two Democrats. Mayor Michael Mahon is a Republican.