No Challenges for County Office Candidates in June Primary

Candidates vying for county offices will not face challenges in the June primary election. The Monmouth County Republican Committee and the Monmouth County Democrats each fielded a single candidate for a three-year, full-term freeholder seat; a one-year unexpired freeholder seat; and a five-year, full-term county clerk seat as of the April 2 primary election filing deadline, according to the Monmouth County Board of Elections.

Monmouth County voters will recognize some familiar names on this year’s ballot. Republican Freeholder Director John Curley, a Middletown resident, is seeking his second full term on the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders. The Monmouth County Democrats tapped of Howell to challenge Curley in November. Shea ran unsuccessfully for a freeholder seat in the 2011 election.

Republican Freeholder will run for the one-year, unexpired term against Democrat Kevin Lavan, a former mayor of Hazlet Township who lost a bid for a 13^th District State Assembly seat in 2011. DiMaso, a former Holmdel mayor, replaced former Freeholder Director Robert Clifton in January 2012 following a Monmouth County Republican Committee special election. Clifton had resigned from the county governing body after winning a 12^th District State Assembly race. The unexpired freeholder seat will be up for grabs again in the 2013 general election, this time for a full, three-year term.

Incumbent Monmouth County Clerk M. Claire French, a Republican and a Wall resident, is seeking her fourth term in the constitutional office against Democratic challenger Michael Steinhorn. Steinhorn, a Rumson resident, ran unsuccessfully in the 2011 race for .

No independent candidate has filed to run for the county seats as of April 2, according to the Monmouth County Board of Elections. However, there is still time for a candidate outside the Republican and Democratic field to emerge. Third party and independent candidates have until June 5, the primary election date, to file for the November general election.