Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian won an easy re-election victory on Tuesday, beating former council president John Flood by a 63%-37% margin. Gillian received 1,942 votes and Flood got 1,121. Three incumbent councilmembers – Keith Hartzell, Karen Bergman and Peter Madden – ran unopposed. Gillian is the owner of the Wonderland Pier in Ocean City. He was elected mayor in 2010 and re-elected in 2014.
Ralph Bakely, who served as a Cape May County Freeholder from 2003 until 2010, passed away today. He was 85. He served in the U.S. Air Force and as a police officer before entering politics. He served on the Lower Township Board of Education from 1966 to 1986, and on the Lower Township Republican Committee. He was appointed to the Freeholder Board in 2003 and elected in 2004 and 2007.
If Jeff Van Drew is successful in his bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives this fall, it will set up a series of moves for the legislature next year. Republicans may see greater opportunities in the State Senate and Assembly seats, especially with the absence of a logical heir apparent to retiring twelve-term Rep. Frank LoBiondo. Van Drew would need to resign for the State Senate
