Weber And Santhana Oust Hinds In Holmdel Twp. Committee Race

HOLMDEL, NJ — In a stunning turn of events, Cathy Weber and Prakash Santhana are the unofficial winners in the Holmdel Twp. Committee race, with all the districts reporting by 11:15 p.m. Tuesday.

The race results, although unofficial, are a crushing blow to both Holmdel Mayor Eric Hinds and the Monmouth County Republican Party. Hinds sought re-election with running mate Chiung-Yin Cheng Liu, and they were backed by the powerful and deep-pocketed Monmouth County Republican Party.

Yet Liu and Hinds lost to two relative newbies to the Monmouth County political scene.

"The results will be made official in a few days, but we're very optimistic and happy with where we stand at this point tonight," Weber told Patch Tuesday evening.

With 10 out of the 10 Holmdel voting districts reporting, here are the votes from the Monmouth County clerk:

• Weber (Independent): 2,072 votes (projected winner)
• Santhana (Independent): 1,991 votes (projected winner)
• Liu (Republican): 1,965 votes
• Hinds (Republican): 1,953 votes

Mail-in ballots will be counted Wednesday.

Hinds, a Holmdel native, was a fixture on the Township Committee, having served on it for nine years. Previous attempts to unseat him by Holmdel Democrats have been unsuccessful.

But Hinds took a serious hit this fall when his fellow colleagues on the Township Committee, all of them Republicans, censured him for possibly misdirecting $2.1 million in public funds. Hinds and his supporters — of which there are many in Holmdel — denied the charge. The Monmouth County Republican Party stood by him, continuing to endorse his campaign.

Weber declined to comment tonight if she thinks the censure vote hurt Hinds. He received even fewer votes than his running mate, Liu.

"This is the result of a lot of work. This is the people's victory; we put people over politics," Weber told Patch. "We walked and talked and engaged the community. We have been out and about for four months. In the process of doing so, we listened to their concerns."

Weber has regularly attended Holmdel Twp. Council meetings for years and positioned herself as a sort of local government watchdog. Santhana is a political newcomer.

Read: Holmdel Mayor Eric Hinds Censured Over $2.1M Turf Field Expense
Monmouth County GOP Stands By Holmdel Mayor Hinds Despite Censure

Monmouth County Sheriff: Monmouth County Republican party boss Shaun Golden is the projected winner for his fourth term as county sheriff. He was challenged by Democrat Raymond Dothard, a Millstone resident and veteran of the U.S. Navy.

Golden (projected winner): 71,059 votes

Dothard: 46,726 votes

Golden made statewide headlines this year for defying the Murphy administration and continuing to work with ICE in the Monmouth County jail. Read: Monmouth County Sheriff Defies Murphy's Order On ICE Cooperation

Monmouth County Freeholder: The Republicans running are Freeholder Tom Arnone (incumbent) and Wall Township Committeeman Nick DiRocco. The Democrats are Moira Nelson and Michael Penna. At issue is odor from the Monmouth County landfill in Tinton Falls and whether the Monmouth County jail should continue to work with ICE.

Arnone (projected winner): 68,877 votes

DiRocco (projected winner): 63,960 votes

Penna: 49,167 votes

Nelson: 48,739