Rodrick, Furey To Face Off For Mayor In Toms River In General Election

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Toms River voters should expect five busy months of campaigning, with the candidates for mayor and council unofficially set for the November general election.

Daniel Rodrick received the Republican nomination, according to unofficial tallies, after receiving 4,663 votes in Tuesday’s primary, defeating Geri Ambrosio, who received 2,794; incumbent Mayor Maurice “Mo” Hill, who received 2,205, and Robert Bianchini, who received 521 votes. There were 22 write-in votes, according to unofficial tallies as of 4 p.m. Wednesday.

There were 10,205 votes cast in the mayoral primary, an 35 percent increase in turnout over the 2019 Republican primary where Hill won and Rodrick finished third. Toms River has 27,248 registered Republican voters, out of 70,654 registered voters total; the 10,205 Republican ballots cast represents a 37.4 percent voter turnout.

The attention now turns to the general election, where Rodrick is slated to face Democrat John Furey, who received 2,193 votes in an uncontested primary, according to the unofficial tallies. There are 15,693 voters in Toms River who are registered Democrats.

The challenge for both will be convincing the 27,713 unaffiliated voters to support their visions for Toms River.

Rodrick has been persistent with his complaints about overdevelopment, which were fueled by opposition from a number of people to the proposal to build an apartment complex in downtown Toms River at the site of the former Red Carpet Inn.

The township purchased the inn in 2018 as part of an effort to stop relentless quality-of-life issues at the property, which had received more than 750 police calls from January 2015 to Nov. 1, 2017, but the redevelopment plans, which had included two 10-story towers, have been a source of controversy for more than a year.

A plan to alter the design and reduce it to six stories, announced by Hill during the Republican debate, did not sway voters.

Rodrick has opposed the project outright, and its future is unclear if Rodrick wins the mayor’s race in November, a likely outcome given the town’s predominantly Republican political history.

Furey did not respond to a Patch request for candidate profile information before the primary.

Also slated to be on the November ballot are Rodrick’s three council running mates, who won the Republican nominations for the three at-large council races. Lynn O’Toole received 4,197 votes, Thomas Nivison received 4,178 votes and Craig Coleman received 4,122 votes according to the unofficial tallies.

Joining Furey on the Democratic ticket are Michele Williams, who serves on the Toms River Regional Board of Education and received 2.005 votes; Rhetta Jackson-Fair, who received 2,036 votes, and Kajal Lal, who received 1,891 votes.

The general election is set for Tuesday, Nov. 7.