BY KAREN E. BOWES
Staff Writer
Adam Puharic It’s the dawn of a new – and much younger – era for Monmouth County Republicans.
On June 13, Adam Puharic, 35, was elected chairman of the Monmouth County Republican Committee. The new chairman pledged to be a different kind of leader, different at least from former GOP county Chairman William Dowd, whom Puharic criticized as ruling from behind closed doors.
Puharic replaces Fredrick Niemann, 52, who two years after succeeding Dowd, 62, declined to seek another term.
The political newcomer won by a large margin with 266 votes, beating out Red Bank GOP Chairman Jim Giannell, 139 votes, and former Freeholder Ed Stominski, of Eatontown, 38 votes.
A fourth candidate, Millstone Committeeman Elias Abilheira, dropped out of the race at the last minute, saying he supported Puharic’s agenda to reunite the bickering party.
At Brookdale Community College, Middletown, Puharic delivered a pre-vote speech to a crowd of over 400 Republicans, making ample historical references, comparing divisions within the local Republican party to that of a “Balkanized state.” Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan and Lord Horatio Nelson, the famed 18th-century British seaman who defeated Napoleon’s navy, were all quoted in Puharic’s three-minute speech.
Committee members, who were packed into a stuffy conference room with no air conditioning and windows that did not open, sweated out the formality of all the candidates’ speeches until Puharic appeared, then erupted into applause.
Clearly the audience favorite, Puharic began his short speech by yelling enthusiastically, “Don’t you love being a Republican?”
The Aberdeen resident and father of two young children is a far cry from former Chairman William Dowd, who, until 2004, held the chairmanship for 18 years.
“I will never forget when Bill Dowd hung up on me,” Puharic said, explaining he called Dowd asking for help with some matter.
Two years ago, Dowd was replaced by Niemann as chairman. Niemann, criticized for using sneaky tactics to skirt pay-to-play laws and raise funding for the county GOP, declined to run for a second term.
“There is not a decision I have made that I thought at the time was not the best decision,” Niemann said at the gathering. “After 40 years of only one or two people making all the decisions, you want a voice, you want to be heard because you’ve been repressed for decades. … Life is but a circle, a cycle. Things always return to an equilibrium. We went from one extreme to perhaps another extreme.”
Puharic asked his fellow Republicans to get rid of “cliques” in order to present a united front to the Democrats.
“I don’t belong to any clique,” Puharic said, urging others to follow suit. “I’m my own guy.”
“Remember Admiral Nelson,” he said.
“A commander can do no wrong if he turns his guns toward the enemy and fires away,” Puharic said, quoting the brilliant naval strategist. Nelson wrote the words before defeating Napoleon Bonaparte’s navy in the battle of Trafalgar in 1805, saving England from becoming a province of France. Nelson died as a result of the battle.
“Tell [Gov.] Jon Corzine tonight is the night that Monmouth County Republicans stop fighting amongst ourselves,” Puharic exclaimed.
Furthering his theme of unity, Puharic quoted Lincoln, saying, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
Lincoln used the biblical reference in terms of the aftermath of the Civil War. Puharic adopted it as his campaign slogan, comparing the divided factions of the county Republicans to post-bellum America.
The new GOP chairman discussed his commitment to the “convention system,” a process some have criticized as outdated or flawed.
“I would not and could not remove the convention system process from our party,” Puharic said, receiving applause.
Abilheira said one of the reasons he dropped out of the race was because he supported Puharic’s stance on preserving the convention and “invigorating our grassroots.”
Puharic is a former Monmouth County undersheriff. He presently works at Meridian Health. He volunteers extensively for the Monmouth County Boy Scouts, acting as the organization’s vice president of public relations and marketing. He is also the co-founder, along with wife Dana Puharic, of Michael’s Feat, a nonprofit organization that provides care packages for parents of terminally ill young children.