Ocean County Commissioners 2022 Primaries: What To Know

OCEAN COUNTY, NJ —It's Primary Day in New Jersey and the 2022 race for two seats on the Board of Commissioners has reached its first major turning point.

Ocean County voters will be casting ballots in either the Republican or Democratic primaries. The polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

There are four candidates seeking the Republican nominations for the two seats up for election: incumbents Virginia Haines and John P. "Jack" Kelly, and they are being challenged by Ashley Lamb and Sergio Fossa.

There are two Democrats seeking their party's nomination: Catherine Paura and Roxanne Barnes.

Haines and Kelly responded to Patch questionnaires on issues in Ocean County, including the growing push for a permanent facility to provide temporary housing to the homeless year-round.

• Ocean County Commissioner Primary 2022: Virginia Haines
• Ocean County Commissioner Primary 2022: John P. Kelly

Haines and Kelly said while they do not support a county-operated facility, they support efforts of nonprofit organizations to meet that need.

Kelly, who was elected to the board of then-freeholders in 1993, points to the lowering of the county tax rate in the last six years and continued efforts to conserve open space and limit development as important achievements.

Ocean County is the only county in New Jersey without a facility to temporarily provide shelter year-round. Its Code Blue emergency program only offers shelter to the homeless when the temperatures are expected to be below 35 degrees.

Lamb and Fossa did not reply to a Patch invitation to answer questions. Lamb is a member of the Toms River Regional Board of Education and is married to Toms River Councilman Justin Lamb. Fossa is a pastor at Grace Bible Church.

Lamb and Fossa have attacked Haines and Kelly as being corrupt and "part of the establishment," blaming them for an FBI investigation into hiring practices dating back to 2017. Kelly made the FBI subpoena public at a Board of Commissioners meeting, the Asbury Park Press reported.

The investigation dates back to when George Gilmore was still chairman of the Ocean County Republican Party. Gilmore, who was convicted on two counts of failing to pay payroll taxes to the federal government in April 2019, was spared a 366-day prison sentence by a Trump pardon, which wiped away the sentence. He has been a visible presence in the last year at various events and meetings as he tries to retake control of the county Republican Party.

Lamb and Fossa also attacked Haines and Kelly over the county's purchase of Dominion voting machines, which are used only for early voting and were recommended by longtime County Clerk Scott A. Colabella, NJ Spotlight reported. Dominion's voting machines were said to be a piece of voting fraud in the 2020 presidential election, a claim that has been refuted. Dominion has filed defamation lawsuits over the conspiracy theories against Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell that are ongoing, Reuters reported in May.

Lamb and Fossa have called for the removal of mail-in ballot dropboxes, and the board of commissioners passed a resolution in May asking the state to remove them as well.

A flyer sent out on behalf of Haines and Kelly called Fossa and Lamb "Fake MAGAs," accusing Fossa of initially rejecting Trump during a podcast. The flyer also said Lamb voted in favor of the Toms River Regional schools' budget that cut 70 jobs and raised property taxes. Lamb's vote was to introduce the budget — a formality.

New Jersey state law under S2 requires the Toms River Regional School District to raise its property tax levy by 2 percent because the district is under adequacy, meaning it is not spending enough, under the state's standards, to properly educate students. The property tax increase is a state mandate.

New Jersey has a closed primary system, which means you must be a member of a particular party to vote in that party's primary. Voters who are registered but unaffiliated with any party can vote in the primary by declaring a party affiliation at the polls.

The winners of the primary election will secure their party's nomination for the general election, which takes place on Tuesday, Nov. 8.

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IF YOU HAVE NOT RETURNED YOUR VOTE-BY-MAIL BALLOT: Ballots must be postmarked on or before 8 p.m. on Primary Election Day, and must be received by their county's Board of Elections on or before the sixth day after the close of the polls. Voters can also place their vote-by-mail ballot in one of their county's secure ballot drop boxes by 8 p.m. on Election Day.

• Barnegat Library: 112 Burr Street, Barnegat
• Beachwood Library: 126 Beachwood Boulevard, Beachwood
• Berkeley Library: 30 Station Road, Bayville
• Brick Library: 301 Chambers Bridge Road, Brick
• Jackson Library: 2 Jackson Drive, Jackson
• Lacey Library: 10 E. Lacey Road, Forked River
• Lavallette Library (Upper Shores): 112 Jersey City Avenue, Lavallette
• Little Egg Harbor Library: 290 Mathistown Road, Little Egg Harbor
• Long Beach Island Library: 217 S. Central Avenue, Surf City
• Manchester Library: 21 Colonial Drive, Manchester
• Northern Resource Center: 225 4th Street, Lakewood
• Ocean County Parking Garage: 3rd Floor, Madison Avenue, Toms River
• PIC, Inc. of Ocean County: 1959 Route 9, Toms River
• Plumsted Library: 119 Evergreen Road, New Egypt
• Point Pleasant Borough Library: 834 Beaver Dam Road, Point Pleasant
• Southern Resource Center: 179 South Main Street, Manahawkin
• Toms River Library: 101 Washington Street, Toms River
• Waretown Library: 112 Main Street, Waretown
• Whiting Reading Center/Library: 400 Lacey Road, Suite 5, Whiting

VOTE IN PERSON ON ELECTION DAY: Polls will be open for in-person voting from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 7. Find your local polling place here.

Early voting was held Friday through Sunday.