'It's ripping our system apart': Next Red Bank mayor excited to drop party labels
RED BANK - The borough has just joined a list of municipalities that have dropped party labels. And that's a good thing, according to the incoming mayor.
“It’s an old trope, but fixing a pothole isn’t Democrat or Republican,” said Billy Portman, who said he was excited for the change to nonpartisan elections. Portman ran uncontested as a Democrat and won his election for mayor this Tuesday.
In Monmouth County, the municipalities with nonpartisan elections include Allenhurst, Asbury Park, Avon, Bradley Beach, Deal, Highlands, Loch Arbour, Long Branch, Monmouth Beach, Ocean Township, Keansburg and Tinton Falls.
In Ocean County, the municipalities include Beach Haven, Havey Cedars, Island Heights, Jackson, Long Beach Township and Manchester.
The change would move candidates for the Borough Council and mayor’s seat from under the partisan headings, with labels for Democrats and Republicans, and into a separate section similar to nonpartisan school board elections.
Dr. Julia Sass Rubin, a professor with the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers, has given presentations to municipalities on her research on the impact of the county line in partisan elections. Candidates who are on the county line, which means they have been endorsed by local political parties, receive preferential placement on the ballot.
In nonpartisan elections, she said candidates can still run with a tagline, but, “there’s no special order. Everyone goes on the same column or row.”
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During Tuesday’s election, voters were asked if they approved of the changes recommended by the Charter Study Commission. The changes included nonpartisan elections, holding municipal elections every other year and creating stricter delineations between the roles of the governing body and the borough administrator, renamed the municipal manager.
Mirroring the 2021 vote to form the Charter Study Commission, over 68% of voters Tuesday elected to implement the changes it recommended.
The next municipal election will be held next spring, with a deadline to submit a petition to run for mayor or for one of six seats on the Borough Council set for March 6. The next municipal election will be held on May 9 with all seats up for election. If at least three candidates do not cross a majority threshold, Red Bank’s first runoff election will be held on June 13. The new government will begin on July 1.
Portman said he plans to run again this spring.
Passing the charter study referendum was the cornerstone of Portman’s campaign. He said, “I think it would be a good system to take some of the focus off of the two-party system because nationally, it’s ripping our system apart.”
Rubin said some voters may like having the party identification because it could signal the candidate’s values and believes.
“Are they more liberal, are they more conservative, do they support a right to choose in terms of abortion, or do they want smaller government? That kind of signaling,” Rubin said. “I think what people would argue is that, in a municipal election, those issues are not so relevant because in city government, you’re not really dealing with things like abortion. It’s about service provision.”
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In Red Bank, this year’s governing body tackled the legalization of marijuana sales, the process of updating the borough’s master plan and the possible regulation of short-term rentals such as Airbnbs.
“I don’t know if the D or the R in front of your name really did anything, at least at the local level,” Portman said. “I can understand at the national level, the importance of having that party identification, but at the local level, I don’t see much of a difference in Democrats and Republicans on issues like development or town safety or keeping the streets clean.”
With the move to nonpartisan election, Portman said, “There’s definitely a little more responsibility on the voter to do their research.”
However, he said he believes partisan elections disenfranchise voters.
He said partisan elections gives preference to candidates nominated by the local municipal parties. Voting rates in primaries for members to run the local parties are low.
He said winning the Democratic primary can often assure a win in the general election in Red Bank, where Democrats have dominated recent races.
Portman noted that registered Republicans and independents can’t vote in Democratic primaries, limiting their ability to have a say in who will most likely be the next council members or mayor.
Portman himself ended up running unchallenged on Tuesday’s general election after he won the Democratic primary, beating Councilman Michael Ballard, who had the backing of the local Democratic municipal party, which picked Ballard over current Mayor Pasquale "Pat" Menna. While Democrats have all six seats and the mayor's seat in Red Bank, they have been split into battling factions.
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While the next municipal election is in May, Portman and the two elected Democrats for council seats, Angela Mirandi and John L. Jackson, have expressed a desire to move subsequent municipal elections to November to increase voter participation in the local election.
Olivia Liu is a reporter covering transportation, Red Bank and western Monmouth County. She can be reached at oliu@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Next Red Bank NJ mayor excited to drop party labels
