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Politics & Government

The Middletown Connection in the Election

From state senate to the local level, Middletown residents and former politicians made a large showing in this year's general election.

The county and both the 13th District state Assembly and Senate races involved candidates connected to Middletown and its politics in one way or another.

Winning her second term as Monmouth County Surrogate, Rosemarie Peters has been a township resident for many years and served on its Township Committee for 18 of them, or six terms, including some of that time served as mayor and deputy mayor.

In the state senate race, Republican incumbent Joseph Kyrillos Jr., a longtime incumbent and Middletown resident who maintains his office in the township, fought off former Democratic Hazlet Mayor Christopher Cullen with a tally of 24,041 to Cullen’s 14,739 votes.

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Kyrillos, completing his fifth term in Trenton, took 60 percent of the 40,143 votes cast in 166 of 167 districts reporting. Cullen garnered nearly 37 percent of the total votes.

The remaining three percent of the votes were split among three independent candidates: Stephen J. Borecchia, Karen Anne Zaletel and MacDara F. Lyden.

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The state Assembly race featured incumbent Republican Assemblywoman Amy Handlin, a longtime resident of the Lincroft section of Middletown, former Township Committee member and Monmouth County Freeholder, who was re-elected to her post in Trenton.

As the frontrunner in a field of six candidates for two seats, Handlin took 23,993 amounting to 30 percent of the vote totals. Her running mate, incumbent Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon of Little Silver, took 22,685 ballots or nearly 29 percent of the totals.

Handlin’s husband, David, was on hand at Middletown GOP headquarters, the Lincroft Inn, as a show of support there in her stead. “I just wanted to say thank you all from Amy; and keep up the good work,” the Handlin spouse said of the sweeping Republican win at his and his wife’s hometown level and beyond.

Former Democratic Middletown committee member Patrick Short and Kevin M. Lavan, another former Democratic Hazlet mayor and committee member, fell behind Handlin and O'Scanlon.

Both came up with about 19 percent of all the votes cast with Short taking 15,286 votes and Lavan taking 15,118 votes.

Independents Frank Cottone and William H. Lawton took 830 and 751 ballots respectively amounting to about one percent each.

Altogether 78,700 votes, representing 166 of 167 districts, were cast in the assembly race.

The boundaries of the 13th district, as recently re-drawn in time for this year's election, now include several Monmouth County coastal towns led by the GOP.

Elaine Van Develde contributed to this story.

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