Politics & Government

Three Incumbents Re-Elected, New Councilman Elected in Ocean City

Mayor Jay Gillian, Council Vice President Michael Allegretto and Councilman Keith Hartzell were all re-elected in the non-partisan elections. Peter Madden is the newest member of council.

UPDATE, 10:58 P.M.: This post was updated to include the tabulation of vote-by-mail ballots.

ORIGINAL: The three incumbents in the non-partisan municipal elections have been re-elected, and council will welcome one new member to its ranks.

Mayor Jay Gillian defeated Ed Price, 2,112 votes to 1,380 in Tuesday's elections, according to unofficial results posted on the city's website. There were six write-in votes.

Councilman Keith Hartzell and Council Vice President Michael Allegretto were re-elected to council, while Peter Madden will make the move from the Ocean City Board of Education to city council.

Hartzell was the leading vote-getter with 2,402 votes, followed by Madden (2,199) and Allegretto (2,178).

Michael Hyson collected 1,214 votes and Eric Sauder had 1,184 votes. There were 19 write-in votes.

“I’m honored and humbled,” Hartzell said. “I’m pleased my love of Ocean City and my hard work and the hard work of my campaign manager paid off. I ran like I was 10 points behind the whole time, and I was hitting doors up until (Monday) night.”

Gillian defeated Price in all four wards.

Hartzell was the leading vote-getter among council candidates in all four wards. Madden was second in the second and fourth wards, with Allegretto coming in second in the first and third wards.

“I’m very honored the voters chose me for a third term,” Allegretto said. “ … I feel good. It shows I did a good job for them and they rewarded me with their votes. I’m going to keep working hard and do my best for the city.”

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"I'm excited and I'm eager to get started," Madden said." ... The hardest part about (Tuesday) was that it was out of my control and I had to wait and see if my hard work paid off."

A total of 3,498 of the 9,003 registered voters came out for the mayoral election. Turnout was much higher in the council elections, with 9,103 of the 9,033 registered voters casting their vote for one of the five candidates.

Gillian won a second term in office, having first been elected in 2010. He outspent Price in the election by about $15,000. Gillian spent $23,989.15, compared to $8,920 by Price, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission reports published on May 8.

Price raised $15,345. Gillian raised about $35,000, minus a $10,000 loan from his father Roy that he said was initially reported wrong and promised to return to his father.

Peter Madden spent the most money on his campaign among the five council candidates, at $8,976.70. He raised $12,404.58.

Hartzell raised the most money among council candidates, raising $16,591.20. His campaign spent $4,511.60.

Allegretto, Michael Hyson and Eric Sauder each said they would spend no more than $4,500 on their campaign.

Results are unofficial pending the certification by the municipal clerk.


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