Jason Jones is top vote-getter for vacant Neptune seat

Neptune Democrats today picked former Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling, former Mayor Kevin McMillan, and former school board member Jason Jones as their candidates to fill a vacant seat on the township committee.

Jones was the top vote-getter, receiving 20 of 36 votes, and is the strong favorite to be appointed when the township committee meets on Monday evening.

The remaining members of the governing body get to pick one of the three names, or remand the choice back to the Democratic county committee.

The open seat was held by Michael Brantley, who has not been in attendance since June due to a serious illness.  The governing body declared his seat vacant last month.

Jones had been elected to the Neptune Township Board of Education in 2003, at age 21, and served for fourteen years.  He is a former aide to Reps. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-Long Branch) and Donald Payne, Jr. (D-Newark).    Jones was fired as the Roselle school administrator in 2018 after using public funds to purchase a vehicle without the school board’s permission.

Houghtaling, a former mayor, is seeking a political comeback.  He served as a township committeeman for five years before winning a State Assembly seat in 2015.  He lost re-election in 2021, and unsuccessfully sought party support for another Assembly campaign earlier this year.

Kevin McMillan spent eighteen years on the township committee before losing party support for a seventh term, was a Democratic Assembly candidate in 2011.  He is a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of organization lines

Two others sought the appointment: Bryan Acciani, a planning board member; and Richard Schlossbach, a realtor and the brother of 2023 Democratic county commissioner candidate Arthur Schlossbach. Ava Johson, a Democratic state committeewoman and CWA leader, and, Derel Stroud, a former Democratic operative and independent candidate for lieutenant governor in 2017, dropped out of the race this morning; Stroud endorsed Jones.