Neptune City Democrat Rachel McGreevy now has a 13-vote lead over incumbent Republican Mayor Andrew C. Wardell as ballots continue to be counted in the 2023 Neptune City municipal election.
According to updated results released Thurs., Nov. 9 by Monmouth County Clerk Christine Giordano Hanlon, McGreevy has 731 votes and Wardell has 718. There were five write-in votes.
Hanlon said late mail-in votes are still being counted and provisional ballots are pending.
The clerk said 29 provisional ballots were issued in Neptune City.
Democrat incumbents Pamela Renee and Glen Kocsis were reelected to the Borough Council, according to unofficial returns.
Renee leads the four candidates for two council seats with 789 votes, while Kocsis garnered 771. Republican challengers Michael T. Kepler and Craig W. Morcom received 650 and 649 votes, respectively, according to the latest count.
“We’re thrilled we’re still in the lead and that we’ve gained a few more vote-by-mail ballots,” the team of McGreevy, Kocis and Renee said on social media. “Patiently waiting to see if any other votes come in!”
“It appears [that] Michael and Craig are sadly too far behind to secure seats on council,” the Neptune City Republican Club said in a social media post. “Currently, the mayor’s race is too close to call with ballots still possibly coming in over the coming days through vote-by-mail and provisionals.”
Though McGreevy may be confirmed as the first woman to serve as mayor of Neptune City when the final results are released, Republicans will still control the governing body by a 4-2 margin. Under Neptune City’s form of government, the mayor only votes in the event of a tie.
Clerk Hanlon said that 150 people took advantage of early voting locations prior to Election Day, Nov. 7. A total of 248 mail-in ballots have been tallied while 436 mail-in ballots were sent out.
McGreevy is a native of Eveleth, Minnesota. She and her husband moved to Neptune City in 2017 to be near family. Now a small business owner, she previously worked as vice president of state government affairs and community relations at MasterCard, the global payments company.
Wardell asked voters to give him a second four-year term as mayor. He defeated Renee 840-650 in the 2019 mayoral election. A teacher and coach at Monmouth Regional High School in Tinton Falls, Wardell was elected to the council in 2015.
A year earlier, Renee became the first Democrat to win a seat on the council in 20 years. She is the longest serving member of the governing body. A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, Renee has been a member of Garden State Equality, the NAACP and the Sierra Club of New Jersey, and has served on the Citizens Emergency Response Team.
Kocsis was first elected to the council in 2017. He was reelected by a margin of 15 votes in 2020. The third-generation union sheet metal worker also holds an associates degree in criminal justice. He volunteers with the Neptune City Fire Police and Community Emergency Response Team.
