Matawan Boro Council: Republicans Knock Off Democratic Incumbents

MATAWAN, NJ — Republicans kicked out two Democratic incumbents on the Matawan borough council this year, now that all votes have been counted and finalized.

Republicans Charles Ross and Melanie Wang (pronounced Wong) beat out Councilmen John Lazar and Nick Reeve, with Ross getting 1,559 votes, 1,522 for Wang, 1,481 for Lazar and 1,435 for Reeve, according to Monmouth County final vote counts.

Reeve has been a Matawan Councilman for a while now; he just finished his second term. This was the end of Lazar's first term. Ross ran unsuccessfully in 2016; this is Wang's first time seeking public office.

While neighboring Aberdeen is a strong Democrat-majority town, tiny Matawan is split but tends to lean conservative. For example, in the 2016 presidential election, more Matawan residents chose Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton (2,183 to 1,929 votes), but in the 2020 race, President Joe Biden won Matawan by a hair (2,497 votes for Biden; 2,410 for Trump).

Republicans say this November in Matawan was representative of the "red wave" that swept New Jersey this year, with Republicans taking over multiple Statehouse seats, including beating Senate President Steve Sweeney (D), and high-ranking Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy winning re-election by a much smaller margin than many predicted.

"It was a good year to run as a Republican," mused Anissa Esposito, chairwoman of the Matawan Republican Committee. "I worked on a lot of races this November and on (Jack Ciattarelli's) governor race. There was just a general backlash against the Democratic Party on a national level. The dislike of Biden had a trickle-down effect. It was definitely a factor in getting people out to vote."

6,000 people voted in the Matawan council race this year, which Esposito said is actually a high turnout for the tiny town.

And it's not just Matawan: Republicans took seats held by Democrats in many Monmouth County towns in 2021, including Eatontown, Fair Haven, Keyport, Marlboro, Manasquan, Neptune City, Sea Bright, Spring Lake Borough — and Matawan.

"We witnessed a huge red wave in Monmouth County which included our four legislative districts," said Monmouth GOP Chairman Shaun Golden. "We won Legislative District 12, Legislative District 13, Legislative District 30, and took back two Assembly seats from the Democrats in Legislative District 11, which has 14,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans."

"On a local level in Matawan, there's a real concern about proposed development at our train station," continued Esposito. "There are plans for a four-story apartment building; it's been given a 30-year PILOT. This is a huge issue for our residents. We are concerned we are almost going to become a suburb of Jersey City with all these big apartment buildings in the center of town."

"And most importantly, we are the fourth highest-taxed municipality in Monmouth County," she said. "Matawan residents just got their fourth-quarter bill and are very upset. We need a change."

As 2022 begins, the Matawan town council will now be four Democrats, two Republicans and Matawan Mayor Joe Altomonte, a Democrat.

Esposito promised Wang and Ross "will not be focused on party line divisions; they will be focused on doing what's best for Matawan," she said. "Either way, it's good to have new opinions. When you have one-party rule, regardless of which party that is, everyone tends to just go lockstep with each other. It's good to have dissenting voices and debate."

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