Ward Races Solidify Lines Drawn On Toms River Council: Unofficial Results

Updated, 11 p.m.

TOMS RIVER, NJ ? The Toms River Township Council is poised to remain under Republican control after voters in the four council ward races notched large leads on Election Day, unofficial results show.

Those results also mean Mayor Daniel Rodrick will no longer have control of the council, as three of those elected oppose his policies and actions.

Robert Bianchini, Clinton Bradley and incumbent David Ciccozzi all held solid leads, according to the unofficial tallies. Bianchini and Bradley are expected to join Ciccozzi and Tom Nivison in opposing Rodrick.

Harry Aber, who ran on the Rodrick council slate in the Republican primary in June, was unopposed in his ward race.

Ward by ward, here are the unofficial results, with all districts reporting. The results remain unofficial until they are certified later in November.

In Ward 1 with 15 of 15 districts reporting, Bianchini leads with 6,315 votes to 3,448 for Democrat Anthony Colucci.

In Ward 2 with 19 of 19 districts reporting, Bradley leads with 6,861 votes to 3,803 for Democrat Susan Payne Gato.

In Ward 3 with 13 of 13 districts reporting, Aber had received 5,231 votes. There was no Democratic candidate in the ward. Councilman Jim Quinlisk, who lost to Aber in the primary, ran a write-in campaign. There were 519 write-in votes cast in the ward.

In Ward 4 with 16 of 16 districts reporting, Ciccozzi was leading with 4,502 votes. Democrat Justin Moran had received 3,923 votes. Democrat Paul C. Williams was running a write-in campaign. There were 38 write-in votes in the ward.

The campaign was vitriolic, with Bianchini, Bradley, and Ciccozzi and their supporters ? including Quinlisk and Nivison ? urging voters to choose them to break Rodrick's control of the council.

The trio had defeated three members of Rodrick's slate ? Justin Lamb, William Byrne, and Anthony Matarazzo ? in the June GOP primary, which happened a month after Rodrick announced he would seek to take over Christ Episcopal Church by eminent domain, a move that was deeply unpopular throughout the township.

Nivison, who was part of Rodrick's slate in 2023 when Rodrick was elected mayor, was not up for election this year but has been targeted in campaign mailers because he has aligned with Quinlisk and Ciccozzi.

Mailers sent last week allegedly from Republican voters claiming the three Republicans want to eliminate zoning for houses of worship and prominently featuring both former mayor Maurice Hill and Booky Kaluszyner, a member of the Toms River Jewish Community Council and an Orthodox Jew, with Kaluszyner dressed in religious garb, claiming both men had endorsed the trio. The Democratic candidates blasted the mailers as antiSemitic.