Middletown Mayor Tony Perry raised over $90,000 on Wednesday night at a fundraiser to boost his bid for re-election in New Jersey’s 16th largest municipality and the hometown of Gov. Phil Murphy
The chairman of the event was former State Sen. Joseph Kyrillos, Jr. (R-Middletown). Perry had served as Kyrillos’ chief of staff from 2014 to 2018.
A 30-year-old rising star, Perry is seeking his second full term on the Township Committee. He’s been mayor for the last three years, bucking a trend of rotating mayors. In 2018, he defeated Democrat Tricia Maguire by a 54%-46% margin.
Democrats have picked Rocky Rios to take on Perry in the fall.
Middletown is a Republican stronghold, one of just three of the state’s 20 largest municipalities with a Republican mayor elected in partisan elections. The others: Toms River, Old Bridge.
Amon the co-chairs of Perry’s fundraiser: former New Jersey Republican State Committee Executive Director Brian Nelson; Tom Scrivo, the former chief counsel to the Governor and a partner at O’Toole Scrivo; Republican insider Gail Gordon; IBEW Local 400, and Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 9.