Why Mark Soporowski Thinks He Can Win This Primary

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Next Tuesday, June 2, Middletown voters will be asked to choose two Republicans to run for Township Committee. Voters will be asked to choose between three:

Current committeeman Ryan Clarke (he's been on the Committee for five years), joined by his running mate Morganne Dudzinski. Clarke/Dudzinski are the two establishment Republicans running with the backing of the Middletown Republican Party, and the Monmouth County GOP.

Enter Mark Soporowski.

He's the third GOP candidate and running as an independent Republican.

Mail-in ballots have long since gone out to homes. On Wednesday, one week before the election, Soporowski seemed cheerful and relaxed.

"I think people have lost sight of the fact that a primary is where the people choose who's on the ballot, not a small group of people in a back room," he told Patch. "There are too many backroom decisions made in this town; the town lacks transparency. Being on the Board of Ed. really opened my eyes to that."

Soporowski describes himself as "a conservative Republican. I'm for limited government and strong family values. I supported Trump in 2024 because that was the candidate that most aligned with my values."

He said he's happy to work with anyone and "loves healthy political debate."

"I talk politics with people all the time in my bar (he owns Gateway Bar & Liquors on Rt. 36). I'm not political like that. For example, I nominated Deb Wright to be president of the Middletown school board; I love Deb. I really have to get along with everybody."

Since he first joined the Middletown school board in January 2025, Soporowski found himself taking a strong position on one of the biggest issues to hit Middletown in 20 years: School closings.

Soporowski was against a proposal to close Navesink and Leonardo elementaries, and consolidate them into one school inside Bayshore Middle School (Bayshore Middle School would cease to exist).

Closing schools was met with passionate resistance from many Middletown parents. In 2025, Soporowski voted for the 10.1 percent school tax increase to keep schools open. He said this week "the public was misinformed about why it had to happen and what years of depleted reserves and deferred planning led to."

Just last month, he scored a major political victory when superintendent Jessica Alfone not only pulled the idea to close schools, saying the district ran out of time to get them done for the fall, but she also said it wasn't even her idea to close schools this year in the first place.

"If you're gonna do something like this, it's a multi-year plan with major community involvement," he said Wednesday. "Anyone with half a brain knows that. There was absolutely no preparation for this, no thought behind it and no data. And the superintendent told me back in February or March this was not even her plan, and this was forced on her by the board president and vice president. I was glad when she finally said that publicly."

"We hired the superintendent to make decisions like this; she's the CEO of the district. If she's being told what to do by the board president, that's a problem. It's not just inappropriate. It's unethical."

(Chris Aveta and Frank Capone denied that they reintroduced school closings this year.)

"And I would not frame it as a political victory," Soporowski continued. "This was a serious issue that impacts families, students, staff, neighborhoods and the town as a whole. My focus was always that it was transparent, the community was fully involved and ALL options were fully explored. The school board members who supported closing schools never even said why they supported it. Regardless of where people stood on the issue, I think the community appreciated someone willing to ask questions and push for accountability."

But school closings are just one of many issues Soporowski said he'd like to address in Middletown.

"It's not just school closings at all," he said. "I've spoken up at Township Committee meetings for years now. I said three or four years ago we should look into directly electing a mayor (currently, a mayor is appointed under Middletown's form of government). And I said we should look into having one high school. Yeah, a lot of people jumped on me for that. But I'm not afraid to ask questions. I'm not afraid to think outside the box."

He also said Middletown needs to "work with Trenton instead of this mentality that we need to fight Trenton all the time. This narrative of fighting Trenton is not working. For example, look at all the builders' remedy lawsuits filed against the town over affordable housing. And the notion that schools are empty is not true. With all the development that's going on, especially with the builders' remedy lawsuits we're losing, we are gonna need somewhere to put kids. People are not moving into Middletown without kids. The real thing that needs to happen with schools is redistricting."

In 2019, Middletown withdrew from the state's affordable housing quotas, which left the town at risk of lawsuits.

He even pointed to Middletown's legal battle with the state of New Jersey over transgender kids in school.

"That's actually what prompted me to run for school board — that transgender issue, when I saw how it was handled," he said. "We've been locked up in that lawsuit for years now. And you know who benefits from this at the end of the day? The (school district) attorney. The same attorney who donated to people on the school board."

"Instead of fighting Trenton, let's fight for Middletown instead."

And Soporowski said he's glad to challenge status quo and challenge the Middletown and Monmouth County Republican Party.

"The minute anybody challenges the Middletown Republican club, they are very quick to attack. And not just attack you verbally. They will go after you, go after your family and your business."

Soporowski maintains Middletown Township sent a fire inspector to a fundraiser party he held at his bar the first time he ran for school board, in 2023. He said it was a politically motivated attack by town hall, which Middletown officials deny.

And Soporowski said after he announced he was running this spring, Tony Fiore, a former Middletown mayor and member of the Middletown Republican Party, filed an OPRA request demanding to see all the text messages Soporowski exchanged with other board members discussing the school district's budget.

Soporowski said he did not save all the text messages. In response, Fiore filed an ethics complaint with the New Jersey Government Records Council last week, accusing him of destroying government records.

"It's that same pattern of intimidation. It's that same bully politics," said Soporowski. "Tony Fiore being a bully — people are tired of it. The days of bully politics in Middletown are over. People are really tired of it."

"At the end of the day they're attacking another Republican who just happens to refuse to play politics as usual," Soporowski said. "The Middletown Republican club has spent a lot of money this election trying to not get me elected. And that should concern people. Why are they spending all this money to not get me elected?"

"But I want to keep this campaign positive," he continued. "I don't have a single corporate donation. It's all grassroots donations from people all over town. Last week I received a handwritten letter from a woman in town who said she appreciated that someone was willing to step up and speak out. She said it's been too long in (Middletown) that residents don't have a say ... This is what a primary should be. I honestly wish more people would run. If you feel you can make a difference, get out there, show who you are and let the town decide."

On June 2, Middletown voters will choose two Democrats and two Republicans to run for Township Committee in the general election in November. The two Democrats running are Shawn Wallach and Jeremy Seideman, who both ran unsuccessfully last year.

Soporowski battles with Middletown Mayor Tony Perry in December: School Board Member, Middletown Mayor Argue Over Why Property Taxes Increased This Year

Profiles of all three Republican candidates:

Middletown Committeeman Ryan Clarke On Why He Seeks Re-Election

Morganne Dudzinski On Why She's Running For Middletown Township Committee

Mark Soporowski On Why He's Running For Middletown Township Committee