2022 Ocean County Commissioners Primary Election: Who's On The Ballot

OCEAN COUNTY, NJ — The 2022 election for the two seats on the Ocean County Board of Commissioners features an unusual wrinkle: a contested Republican primary.

The primary election is set for June 7, and voters in Ocean County will be choosing the nominees for two seats on the Board of Commissioners.

New Jersey has a closed primary system, which means you must be a member of a particular party to vote in that party's primary. Voters who are registered but unaffiliated with any party can vote in the primary by declaring a party affiliation at the polls.

Vote-by-mail ballots are available through the county clerk's offices. Voters can request a vote-by-mail ballot no later than 3 p.m. on June 6. Vote-by-mail ballots must be postmarked by 8 p.m. on June 7.

Early in-person voting will be held from June 3-5 at specified polling locations. Those locations are to be designated by May 15.

Voters also can go to the polls on June 7 to cast their ballots.

Two Democrats are seeking the two seats on the Board of Commissioners, Catherine Paura and Roxanne L. Barnes. Paura, of Seaside Park, is a life coach and adjunct professor; she ran last year for a commissioners' seat in the election won by Republicans Bobbi Jo Crea and Gary Quinn. Barnes, of Bayville, is a political newcomer.

The Republican primary features incumbents Virginia Haines and Jack Kelly, who are being challenged by Ashley Lamb and Sergio Fossa.

Haines, a Toms River resident, is seeking her third term on the Board of Commissioners. She was appointed to fill the seat of James Lacey, who resigned when he moved out of state. Haines served as executive director of the New Jersey Lottery from 1994-2002 and also served in the Assembly representing the 10th District, from 1992-94. Haines has also is the National Republican Committeewoman for New Jersey since 2004 and is co-chair of the Republican National Committee Northeast Region since 2013.

Kelly, of Eagleswood, has served on the board of commissioners since 1993, including multiple stints as the board's director. He has been the liaison to the county's Law and Public Safety department and the Finance Department. He and his wife have five adult children.

Lamb, a Toms River resident, is in the second year of her three-year term on the Toms River Regional Board of Education. She is married to Toms River Councilman Justin Lamb.

Fossa, also from Toms River, is the pastor at Grace Bible Church in Toms River. This is his first time seeking office.