Democrats Win in Manasquan

Manasquan's voters have spoken.

In a clean sweep, residents elected the Democratic team of Mayor George Dempsey and Councilmen Joseph Bossone and Michael Mangan to new terms on the borough's governing body.

The victory marks the end of what has become a tumultuous election season in Manasquan.

Democrats ticket defeated a Republican ticket including current councilwoman Patricia Connolly for mayor and political newcomers Pamela Lewis and Richard Norris for council.

"I am as humbled now as I was the first time I ran and won," Mangan said during a celebration held by the Democrats at the Manasquan Woman's Club. "I'm excited about serving, excited about getting things done and I'm just incredibly grateful to the people who came out and voted."

Republican candidates attended the Democratic celebration, quickly wishing congratulations to their counterparts.

"For the most part, anyone can get elected for the first term," Bossone said. "To get re-elected shows that people are happy with what you did, they believe in you and they feel that you're the right person for the job."

Bossone explained that another key to his team's success was their role in the community beyond just sitting on the council.

"There's so much more involved than that," Bossone said.

"We campaigned hard. We campaigned as a team, not as individuals and we hit every door in Manasquan. We made our spiel, we didn't high pressure anybody and you see the results," Dempsey said.

The results come at the end of a tumultuous election season. Campaigning has turned heated as disputes over various issues within the borough has frequently turned to bitter arguing during council meetings.

"To win by that kind of number it meant that a lot of the Republicans crossed over to vote for us," Dempsey said. "It tells me that they weren't happy with either the way they were campaigning or them or something."

"We put forth two different visions for this community— one that says no to everything and one which says smart planning and smart investing is good for this town and I think that clearly won out tonight," Mangan said.

"We stayed positive about our vision for the community and for the future," Mangan said. "Our opponent went incredibly negative and I think that too says a lot about Manasquan. Manasquan voters are smarter than that."

"Hopefully we can keep Manasquan Manasquan. I've always campaigned on that." Dempsey said. "I once had a guy running against me and asked what that means. I told him, 'if you don't know what that means you shouldn't be running in this race.'"

Manasquan 

Mayor

George Dempsey (Dem)√ 1,306

Patricia Connolly (Rep) 738

Council

Joseph Bossone (Dem)√ 1,199

Michael Mangan (Dem)√ 1,187

Pamela Lewis (Rep) 787

Richard Norris (Rep) 856