By DON STINE
Neptune Township Committee incumbents Randy Bishop and Carol Rizzo have officially received the nod from the local Democratic organization to be the party’s candidates in the Nov. 8 general election.
Four candidates were put forward last Saturday by the local Democratic County Committee and Bishop, who will be seeking his fifth three-year full term, and Rizzo, who will be seeking her first full three-year term, will be on the ballot.
Rizzo is currently filling the unexpired term of former Committeeman Eric Houghtaling, who was elected as a state Assemblyman last November. Rizzo ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders last year.
Bishop announced in February that he was under consideration for a full-time job in county government as the Deputy Commissioner for Administration of Elections for Monmouth County. He said he would retire from his Township Committee position. He was hoping to be appointed this month, which means he would have to leave the governing body.
“But the appointment seems to have stalled and appears not to be moving anywhere in the future,” he said.
“I am really pleased and honored that they selected me. I know there has been some confusion about my getting appointed to the elections board but I really do want to continue serving. I believe we have a good team and have accomplished a lot of positive things for Neptune,” he said.
Rizzo said that Bishop represents an excellent running mate.
“He is experienced and people love him. He is a great running mate and I am eager to continue working with him,” she said.
“This is a great opportunity to fulfill a dream I have of economic development in Neptune. I want to demonstrate that communities can make a difference and improve the quality of life for residents by bringing businesses to town- and that’s what I am going to aim at,” Rizzo said.
The local Republicans have not yet selected any candidates to run in the November election but County Committee Vice Chairman Thomas Catley said two candidates will hopefully be announced by the April 4 filing deadline.
“We have not appointed anyone yet but we do have people under consideration and we are hoping to have two candidates by then,” he said.
