HOLMDEL — The race is now down to the wire. With only a couple of days left before the Republican primary, the candidates are campaigning furiously.
Polling hours for Tuesday’s primary election are 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Deputy Mayor Russell Dronne, 48, of 76 E. Main St.; Valerie Niess, 58, of 820 Holmdel Road; and Robert Reddington Jr., 38, of 20 Deercrest Drive, are vying for the party’s nomination to run for two three-year Township Committee seats in November.
Niess and Reddington are running as regular Republicans, having been chosen by the Holmdel Republican County Committee. Dronne is running by himself. Former school board member Rocco Pascucci, who was running with him, dropped out of the race because of time constraints.
Republican Mayor Art Davey, whose term is also expiring, did not file to run in the Republican primary.
Dronne is running on his record. He is proud of helping to preserve the Chase Bank tract on Holmdel Road, rezoning part of the Route 35 corridor to prohibit big-box stores, and working with the Fire Department to acquire new trucks and with the police department to implement improvements recommended by a consulting firm.
Dronne would like the chance to improve the township even more. A 16-year resident, he is a safety engineer with the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies in Warren Township.
Niess and Reddington are running on fiscal responsibility, open government, public safety and better communication between the public and the committee.
Both of the regular Republican candidates would like to see the township run in a more efficient manner and see an end to fighting among committee members.
Niess has lived in the township for 22 years. She volunteers at the Woman’s Exchange in Little Silver and teaches CCD at St. Catharine’s Church in Holmdel. She is retired from Eastern Airlines, where she was a flight attendant and training instructor.
A lifelong resident, Reddington is a senior vice president and branch manager of Infinity Mortgage Company in Red Bank. He coaches basketball, baseball and boys’ and girls’ soccer for the HYAA.