Vitale Wins Point Pleasant Beach GOP Mayor Primary: Unofficial Results

Updated, 10:50 p.m.

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, NJ — Point Pleasant Beach Borough Council President Douglas Vitale is expected to be the Republican candidate for mayor on the November ballot, according to unofficial tallies in Tuesday's primary election.

Vitale received 511 votes, defeating Councilwoman Arlene Testa, who received 329 votes, and former mayor Stephen D. Reid, who received 318 votes, in the battle to succeed Mayor Paul Kanitra, who is running for the Assembly in the 10th District.

All of the results are unofficial until certified by the Ocean County Board of Elections and the Ocean County Clerk.

In the primary for two nominations for the Republican candidates for Borough Council, Councilwoman Caryn Byrnes and her running mate, Arthur Gant Sr., were leading by a slim margin over the third-place candidate, David Betten. Gant had 515 votes and Byrnes 513, with Betten at 502 according to the unofficial tallies.

The tallies do not include any vote-by-mail ballots that were put in dropboxes by 8 p.m. Tuesday or postmarked by 8 p.m.; ballots postmarked by the deadline have until June 12 to be received by the Board of Elections to be counted.

The final canvass and certification of the results is not due until later in June.

The unofficial vote tallies for each candidate, as announced by the Ocean County Clerk's Office, are listed below.

REPUBLICAN PRIMARY

Mayor (Full four-year term)

• Arlene Testa, 329
• Stephen D. Reid, 318
• Douglas Vitale, 511

Council (two, three-year terms)

• Arthur Gant Sr., 515
• Caryn Byrnes, 513
• David Betten, 502
• Karen "Kitty" Stillufsen, 408

DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY

Council (two, three-year terms)

• Lawrence "Larry" Schwartz, 127