Josh Welle To Hold Town Hall In Freehold Sept. 13

FREEHOLD, NJ — Josh Welle, the Democrat running to represent New Jersey's fourth district in Congress, announced today he will hold the third of his town halls next Thursday in Freehold.

The town hall will be held at the Freehold Independent Fire Co. #1 Banquet Hall at 30 Siloam Road in Freehold, next Thursday, September 13 at 7 p.m.

Welle's campaign is calling it "a town hall celebrating American heroes." You do not need to register in advance; simply show up to meet the candidate and ask him questions.

Welle, a Democrat, is campaigning very hard to try and unseat Congressman Chris Smith, the Republican who has represented New Jersey's fourth district for an incredible nineteen terms, since 1981. The 4th district includes nearly all of Monmouth County, from Middletown and Holmdel on south, into Colts Neck, Freehold, Jackson, Plumstead and Point Pleasant in Ocean County and a small sliver of Mercer County (Hamilton and Robbinsville).

Patch covered Welle's most recent town hall, held Aug. 13 in Robbinsville. The public who attended wrote questions on pieces of paper and submitted them to a moderator, who chose questions to pose to Welle, which he then answered. It was mostly Democrats in the audience that evening; nearly everyone said they had never voted for Smith in the decades he's been in office. The crowd often cheered when Welle spoke. A photo of the crowd is at the top. Welle's first town hall was held in Jackson Twp.

Welle's town halls are meant to engage with voters, but also highlight the fact that Smith has not held a town hall-type forum in years. Welle has promised to hold six town halls total throughout the district during the campaign.

The Welle campaign has also asked Smith to partake in three public debates with him. So far, there has been no response from Rep. Smith.

The midterm election is Nov. 6.

Photo credit: Photo from Congress candidate Josh Welle's town hall in Robbinsville, NJ on Aug. 13. by Carly Baldwin/Patch