Democrats in Toms River will have to choose a new candidate to run for mayor against Republican nominee Dan Rodrick after their own nominee, John Furey, dropped out of the race.
Furey had won the Democratic nomination for the Toms River mayorship in June, though little attention was paid to it. Most of the media coverage was given to the openly hostile race between incumbent Mayor Mo Hill and challengers Dan Rodrick and Geri Ambrosio. Rodrick defeated Hill and Ambrosio in a landslide, and is already the presumptive winner of the November mayoral election in the deep-red Toms River.
A meeting will be held on Friday to choose a replacement for Furey, as well as Toms River Council candidate Kajal Lal, who took a job with the federal government and dropped out of the race.
Meanwhile, Dan Rodrick has been working to unite his fractured Republican Party to ensure a November win.
“I know it’s going to be a challenge to unite this Republican Party in Toms River,” Rodrick said at a heated Council meeting in June.
“We are willing to accept the help and support of any individual from either club,” he continued. “But if there are Republicans out there who believe that they’re going to secretly support the Democrats this year they should know the Democrats will lose, and we will know about it, and you will not be welcomed back into the fold when it is over.”
