Republicans held their seats on the freeholder board and kept their Surrogate and Sheriff's offices
ASBURY PARK -- Republicans in Monmouth County kept their lock on the freeholder board as the two incumbents Tuesday night defeated Democratic Belmar Mayor Matthew Doherty and his running mate.
The large turnout in heavily Republican towns in Monmouth County helped drive the victories for Freeholder Director Thomas Arnone and Freeholder Deputy Director Serena DiMaso.
Doherty, mayor of Belmar since 2011, gained wide popularity from his response to and the town's recovery from Hurricane Sandy in 2012. His running mate, Sue Fulton of Asbury Park, a former U.S. Army captain, was added to the ticket in May when Carly Inman pulled out of the race for personal reasons.
The GOP won all their top county-wide races, reelecting Sheriff Shaun Golden and Surrogate Rosemarie Peters, knocking out their respective opponents Jeff Cantor and Vincent Solomeno.
Shore town mayor seeks county freeholder seat
U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, whose 6th District represents parts of Monmouth and Middlesex counties, beat the Republican run in Monmouth led by Donald Trump and was elected to a 15th term in Congress.
"It's tough because Trump is basically winning in the county by over 10 percent," he said. "We know when that happens at the presidential level, it's very difficult for our county candidates to win."
Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal said that despite Trump carrying Monmouth County, Democrats did well in local competitions, allowing the party to pick up more representation in communities compared to last year.
"This was a good night for Monmouth County Democrats," he said. "We leave today with more elected Democrats than we started with."
He said Trump won Monmouth County over Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton by nearly 30,000 votes.
MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook.