If and when Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty resigns to take a position as the new head of the Motor Vehicle

[caption id="attachment_19069" align="alignright" width="214"] MaGovern[/caption]

Commission, Council President Brian P. MaGovern will become Belmar's new mayor.

Poised to run with the advantage of incumbency, Democrat MaGovern is expected to get a challenge next year for the job from Councilman Mark Walsifer.

A retired local Police Sergeant and popular, Republican Walsifer is said to be in a good position to challenge MaGovern.

"You'd have to consider Mark the frontrunner," a source close to Belmar politics told InsiderNJ, noting the ex-cop's street-level goodwill in his seaside hometown.

"But it will be a tough election - one to watch," the source added.