For one night, Democrats in Keyport had reason to celebrate.
Following a week in which superstorm Sandy decimated borough homes and businesses, stranding hundreds of area residents and senior citizens in a makeshift shelter at the Keyport Central School, the borough Dems swept the Borough Council elections.
Incumbent Kenneth McPeek and newcomer Sophia Lamberson — running in place of current Councilwoman Christian Bolte — received a combined 60 percent of the 5,249 votes cast on Nov. 6, according to unofficial county Board of Election results.
Tracking the returns at a private home on West Front Street — as opposed to the traditional Democratic election night headquarters of Ye Cottage Inn, destroyed by the storm — McPeek and Lamberson said the victory was bittersweet in the wake of all that had happened.
“It doesn’t even really feel like election day to me,” said McPeek. “My parents had six feet of water in their house, so we’ve been dealing with that along with everything here in town.”
The victors, along with their Republican opponents Ken Howe and Amanda Margagliano, spent much of the week at the shelter, volunteering and speaking with displaced residents as the borough works to fix two damaged senior living complexes and get people back into their homes.
“I think this election has been a nice diversion,” said Lamberson, who along with McPeek had spent part of election night visiting the school.
“Ken and I spent most of our time in the shelter, from the second those seniors arrived. And we’re not going to look past that right now, until they are taken care of and they are all where they are supposed to be.”
Cheers rang out throughout the room when the final tallies came in, a brief moment of levity in a home situated within easy walking distance of flattened businesses and a shattered marina.
Bolte, who withdrew from her reelection campaign earlier this year to focus on her family and a budding real estate career, said the victory came as welcome news.
“It does feel good to win,” she said.
McPeek, following a heartfelt thank you to all of his supporters, said he had little time to celebrate.
“Priority number one is getting those senior buildings back up and running as soon as possible,” he said. “Those residents need to get back in their homes and the school needs to reopen. So these next few days are critical.”
Lamberson said she was ready to take on the challenge of restoring a sense of normalcy to a town that has most likely been changed forever.
“Everybody sees a different type of Keyport now, and I’m looking forward to serving it.”
Incumbents found success in a number of other elections throughout the county and state as well.
U.S. Senator Robert Menendez beat out Republican challenger Joe Kyrillos in his bid for reelection, while Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. defeated Republican challenger Anna Little in the 6th District House of Representatives race.
In the race for the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders, according to unofficial results, incumbent Director John Curley and Freeholder Serena Di- Maso won by nearly 30,000 votes each against Democratic challengers William Shea and Kevin Lavan in two contests that saw nearly 240,000 votes cast.
Incumbent County Clerk Claire French received nearly 60 percent of the 242,000 votes cast in her contest with Democratic challenger Michael Steinhorn and will retain her title for another seven years.
In Middletown, Deputy Mayor Stephen Massell took more than 60 percent of the township’s 23,000 votes to defeat first-time Democratic challenger Linda Baum, according to the unofficial results.
The Holmdel Township Committee is now entirely Republican, after Committeeman Joe Ponisi defeated Democratic challenger Mark Levinson for a one-year, unexpired term and Republican Tom Critelli defeated Democratic challenger Lawrence Luttrell for a three-year term. Both candidates took more than 60 percent of the 7,300 votes cast in the race.
In Hazlet, however, the incumbents were not so lucky. In a four-way race for two committee seats that saw nearly 17,000 votes cast, Republicans Mayor David Tinker and Committeeman James Brady lost by fewer than 1,000 votes each to Democratic challengers Barbara Ronchetti and former mayor James DiNardo.