BY JOYCE BLAY
Staff Writer

Jackson JACKSON — Following the Nov. 8 municipal election there is good news and bad news for Jackson Republicans.

The good news for the Republicans is that they have regained control of the Township Committee after six years of Democratic majority. The bad news is that they will be out of a job on July 1 along with the two remaining Democrats when a new form of government replaces the Township Committee.

While that fact may be sobering, Republicans still have plenty to celebrate following the Election Day returns.

Incumbent Republican Committee-man Josh Reilly and his running mate Ann Updegrave defeated two-term Democratic Committeeman Michael Broderick and his running mate Kevin Nerwinski.

Updegrave will join Republicans Mark Seda and Reilly, and Democrats Michael Kafton and Sean Giblin on the governing body.

Three years ago, Reilly won his first race for committee by capturing the most votes. Once again, Reilly was the top vote-getter, with 7,038 votes. Updegrave ran second with 7,012 votes. Broderick came in third with 6,271 votes and Nerwinski came in fourth with 5,902 votes.

According to the Ocean County Board of Elections, there were 28,943 registered voters in Jackson as of Aug. 11.

In 2004, Seda soundly defeated Democratic incumbent Joseph Grisanti in the race for one committee seat. Democratic committeemen said Seda benefited from public interest in the national race for president of the United States and turned out in numbers that ensured a Republican win on the local level as well.

Kafton, who commented on the race during the Nov. 14 committee meeting, maintained that voter interest in this year’s gubernatorial contest was also the reason Republicans won again.

“Politics is a very hard game in Jackson because the buck stops here,” he said. “That’s the nature of the beast.”

Although Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jon Corzine carried the state by 9 points against Republican Doug Forrester, Corzine lost Ocean County. Jackson voters who came to the polls to cast their choice for a Republican governor also spurned Broderick’s bid for a third term on the local governing body and Nerwinski’s bid for a first.

Nerwinski said he was not surprised by the results.

“This election, I think Forrester had a lot of impact on the way things turned out,” he said. “A lot of the people — and this isn’t sour grapes at all since there are more registered Republicans in town than Democrats — were voting the party line. Jackson’s a Republican town and apparently the people responded to the negative campaign run by Josh and Ann. [Voters] accepted the lies they put out.”

Broderick did not return several messages seeking comment. During Monday night’s committee meeting, he did not comment on the election at all.

With the exception of District 9, where voters split the ticket between Broderick and Updegrave, and districts 5, 15, 18, 19 and 26, which supported the Democratic candidates, Jackson voters cast their preference for both Republicans.

District 5 includes Winding Ways, one of Jackson’s largest adult communities. District 26 included a portion of Westlake, the largest adult community. District 25, which includes the other voters registered in Westlake, voted for the Republican ticket.

Reilly and Updegrave said they were not surprised by their election victories.

“I was confident our message had resonated with the voters,” Reilly said. “We’re excited about regaining control of the committee again for the first time in six years. We’ll be working diligently while we’re on the committee to see that the township is run smoothly until there is a change of government.”

When asked if he would seek office in the new government (a directly elected mayor and council), Reilly said he was contemplating a run but did not specify which position he would seek. Updegrave said she would run for a council seat, but not for mayor.

Updegrave promised voters she would cut waste while funding projects she believes will benefit the community. She said one position she would vote to eliminate is the aide to the mayor and Township Committee. She said she would likely vote not to renew a contract with Jackson’s retail consultant.

“If I find [the consultant] has impacted the tax rate and enough ratables were brought in [as a result of his efforts], he would keep his job,” she said. “Unless he has done that, I don’t think I would vote to renew his contract.”

Nerwinski said he is hoping the Republicans keep their other campaign promises as well.

“They’re going to have to open up all the professional contracts to bid because that’s what they campaigned on,” he said. “Otherwise, they’d be hypocrites. [Because] I’m qualified to do the job of township attorney, I will bid for it. It will be interesting to see if they’re going to put their friends in those jobs.”