Democrats Again Fail To Win Seats On Middletown Twp. Committee

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Once again this November, Democrats failed to make inroads on the Middletown Township Committee, which has been dominated by single-party Republican rule for the past decade now.

Republican Tony Perry and his newcomer running mate Kimberly Kratz each took in about 68 percent of the vote, with Perry getting 17,528 votes and 17,270 votes for Kratz.

Meanwhile, thirty percent of Middletown went for the Democrats, with Rocky Rios getting 8,075 votes and Nicholas Babcock getting 7,999 votes, in unofficial results.

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The last time Democrats were on the Middletown Twp. Committee was in 2011, with Sean Byrnes and in 2009 with Patrick Short.

But that doesn't mean Democrats won't keep trying, Mike Morris, chair of the Middletown Democratic Party, vowed on Thursday.

Overall, Morris said having two-party rule can at the very least make things more transparent in Middletown.

"A lot came out when Pat Short and Byrnes were on the Committee," said Morris. "Township Committee meetings used to go on for hours; they debated everything in front of the public. Now, they discuss everything behind closed doors; they all vote yes in public and people have no clue what is really going on."

"Having two parties leads to transparency, open discussion and public knowledge of what is going on in local government."

Morris cited as an example: "I filed an OPRA request about the hacking of Middletown's computers last week; I still got no answers. I heard that for three weeks in the middle of the election Middletown Police were having to book people out of Atlantic Highlands because our Township's computers were down (this has not been verified by the MTPD). I heard residents were emailing Township officials and their emails were not going through. Did Township officials tell anyone in the public this was going on until after the fact? No."

"Look, what Democrats want in Middletown is clean streets; we want our leaves picked up on time (I really think the infrastructure in this town is falling apart; we've had roads collapsing and leaves are not picked up for weeks or months)," continued Morris. "We want a reliable power grid. And we don't want to raise taxes because we live in this town, too. So we would be raising our town taxes. So thinking that is foolish."

Rios acknowledged to the Asbury Park Press after Tuesday's election that any Democrat running in red-leaning Middletown faces "an uphill battle." But he also said:

"Even though we lost, probably especially because we lost, I'm super glad to have a lot of support from people who volunteered. It's not about me or them — they really do care about the town and they really do want to see it better."

Rios and his running mate Babcock got about the same number of votes, despite the fact that Babock has an arrest record and Rios does not.

Babcock was arrested in Arizona and charged with felony-level theft and forgery. Morris, speaking for the Middletown Democratic Party, at first denied the charges but then said Babcock "was not 100 percent honest with us."

Middletown Dems later confirmed their candidate's arrest record, said it was for bouncing checks and that his record has been cleared.

"It's tough to get candidates but we're here and we're not going to stop trying," said Morris Thursday.

Keep reading Patch: Perry/Kratz Lead Middletown Twp. Committee Race (Nov. 2)

Middletown's Sanacore Hurt By Ballot Spot In BOE Race: Backers Say (Nov. 3)

Middletown Twp. Committee Candidate Has A Criminal Record: Court Records Show (Oct. 12)

Middletown Democratic Candidate Confirms 2004 Arrest Record (Oct. 26)

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