Apair of Democratic incumbents maintained their seats in a contested race for the Borough Council on Nov. 4, keeping the Freehold Borough governing body an all-Democratic unit.
In January, Councilman Michael DiBenedetto, 49, will begin his fourth three-year term on the council.
Councilman George Schnurr, 51, will begin his first full term on the governing body. Schnurr was appointed to the council in January to fill an open seat.
DiBenedetto received 2,249 votes to win re-election. Schnurr received 2,046 votes.
Republican candidate Ted Miller, who said he was trying to break the one-party rule in the borough, received 1,181, votes and his running mate Michael Lichardi polled 1,203 votes.
The vote totals for all four candidates include absentee ballots.
“I want to thank the people of Freehold Borough,” DiBenedetto said. “We have a lot to do over the next three years. I am honored by the overwhelming support we received. It is always a privilege to serve the people of Freehold Borough. We will do the best we can in the next three years. There are hard times coming up.”
Schnurr said when he was approached 11 months ago by Mayor Michael Wilson to consider accepting the council appointment, he told Wilson, “It would be a privilege for me to serve the good people of Freehold in this capacity.”
“I am humbled by the voters’ confidence in Councilman DiBenedetto and myself, and overwhelmed by the level of support and the margin of victory,” Schnurr said after the election.
He said he and DiBenedetto walked door to door and visited every home in the borough over the last two months.
“It was really quite an experience,” Schnurr said, “and one I’ll never forget.”
He said he and DiBenedetto even visited homes where signs supporting their opponents were displayed.
“Even though they were voting for our opponents, we wanted them to know who we are and what we’re all about because come Nov. 5, we all have to work together anyway. We are too small of a town to be divided,” Schnurr said.
Miller ran for council in 2007, but was not successful in his bid to win a three-year term. He and Lichardi said it was time for new energy on the governing body and said they intended to “eliminate ineffective oneparty rule” through what they called a “grassroots movement.”
“I want to congratulate the winners and hope that they work as hard on council as they did to get on council,” Miller said. “We fought hard and our issues are issues that everyone recognizes.”
Miller said the borough needs downtown business development and needs to resolve the issue of day laborers lining the town’s streets. He said borough officials must keep the pressure on federal officials to address that particular issue.
“Someone needs to be the catalyst for change,” Miller said. “We still have major quality of life issues that have not been addressed.”
Lichardi said, “I think what occurred was expected, but we had respectful numbers and we are closing in. Freehold Borough has been a tough nut to crack because it has been a Democratic stronghold for too many years, but Freehold voters are shifting their ideas and we are gaining ground. For two men to have the gall to think about running as Republicans in the borough and not be lifelong residents, and to come as close as we did, is significant. It won’t be long before we have a bipartisan government in Freehold Borough. The Republican party is coming back to life.”
In some of the other races that were on the ballot, Freehold Borough residents voted for the Democratic Obama-Biden presidential ticket over the Republican McCain-Palin ticket, 2,202 to 1,486 votes; for Democrat Frank Lautenberg over Republican Dick Zimmer for U.S. Senate, 1,894 to 1,459 votes; for Republican Chris Smith over Democrat Josh Zeitz for U.S. Congress, 1,710 to 1,654 votes; and for Democrats Amy Mallet and Glenn Mason, 2,042 and 1,945 votes, respectively, over Republicans Lillian Burry, 1,285 votes, and John Curley, 1,236 votes, for the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders.