Ducey Team Announces Slate
Ducey Team Announces Slate
Brick Mayor John Ducey, who swept to a stunning victory for Democrats four years ago in deep red Ocean County, announced today that he is running for re-election. He is joined on the ticket by the three incumbents from the Township Council who won with him in 2013 — Marianna Pontoriero, Paul Mummolo, and Heather deJong.
Brick is the 13th largest municipality in the state with a population of over 75,000 residents. The town’s voters typically favor Republican candidates. In the 2016 Presidential election, Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by 34 points.
But Ducey and his all-Democratic Council have managed to convince Brick’s voters to ignore party lines on the local level, handing Democrats convincing victories in the last 2 elections. In 2013, Ducey defeated Republican Joseph Sangiovanni by 22 points, reversing a trend at the top of the ticket that saw Chris Christie win Brick by a 2-1 margin. In 2015, the four Ducey-backed Democratic Council candidates cruised to victory by a substantial margin.
Recent polling shows Ducey’s favorability numbers above 70%, thanks in part to his elimination of Brick’s red light cameras and four straight years of stable property taxes. And in a “rare” move, Ducey’s 2017 budget calls for the first tax decrease in Brick in over 30 years.
Meanwhile, Brick Republicans are gearing up for a primary fight for the mayor’s slot between former councilman Domenick Brando and former council candidate Martin Ebert. Rumors are also swirling that local gadfly, George Scott, will file as an independent candidate for Mayor. Political insiders believe Scott is more likely to pull voters from the eventual Republican candidate.
