Frederick Niemann

There is much speculation among Monmouth County Republicans that Frederick Niemann will not seek re-election to a second term as GOP County Chairman. Niemann won the post two years ago when he ousted 17-year incumbent William Dowd. Niemann has been under fire for comments made regarding terrorists, for public statements aimed at circumventing rules regarding fundraising by county organizations, and for the defeat of several candidates perceived to have had his backing at county conventions. Several Republican sources say that Sheriff Joseph Oxley wants to replace him.

Frederick Niemann was a giant killer in 2004. He had defeated the 17-year incumbent, William Dowd, for Monmouth County Republican Chairman, and seemed destined to a career of relative power as the boss of a large and powerful county GOP organization. But two years later, the Monmouth GOP is in disarray and Niemann may face a tough race if he wants to get re-elected to a second term. To Niemann's credit, he took over under difficult circumstances -- his party had just been through an unsuccessful bid to get Co-Senate President John Bennett re-elected, and Bennett's ethical issues had hurt the entire party. The following year, an early-morning sweep left eleven Monmouth County political leaders of both parties under arrest. But Niemann had had some problems, and today his party organization seems deeply divided. He has gotten into hot water over publicly indentifying loopholes in campaign fundraising laws, and for comments made about terrorism. His candidate in a Special Election Convention for Monmouth County Freeholder lost. And last Saturday, a convention to pick a new Freeholder candidate was a disaster. Niemann played footsy with one candidate, who failed to secure a first ballot win. The second ballot was full of contoversy: the Monmouth GOP Executive Director said that voting machines "were recalibrated after the voting was started." The vote ended with a one-vote margin for Manalapan Committeeman Andrew Lucas, but the party official later said it was a tie. Yesterday, Howell Mayor Joseph DiBella dropped out of the race.

Rosemarie Peters, a Middletown Township Committeewoman since 1988 and a former Mayor, will announce today that she will seek the Republican nomination for Monmouth County Surrogate. There has been speculation that the two-term incumbent, Republican Marie Muhler, will not seek re-election, but Muhler has not yet made a formal announcement. The GOP County Chairman, Frederick Niemann, says that Muhler will need to go through the convention process to seek party support if she wants a third term. Little Silver Councilman Rick DeNoia also is thinking about running for
the post.

The results of a Special Election Convention last Saturday further threaten the re-election prospects of Monmouth County Republican Chairman Frederick Niemann, who backed the losing candidate to replace Amy Handlin on the Board of Freeholders. Anna Little, a Highlands Borough Councilwoman, won a second ballot victory over Howell Mayor Joseph DiBella, who had Niemann's tacit support and considerable help from his key supporters. Some party leaders say that Little's victory as very much an anti-Niemann vote. Niemann was elected Chairman in 2004, ousting the outspoken and often controversial William Dowd, who had held the post for seventeen years. This was the second time in two years that a Niemann-backed Freeholder candidate lost a party convention. Monmouth has become increasingly competitive at the county level, and in 2005 the Democratic Freeholder candidate lost by just 1,792; many pundits believe the Democrats would have won if a Green Party candidate endorsed by the Asbury Park Press had not won 18,698 votes.

Republicans expect two longtime officeholders to announce their retirements within the next few weeks: Freeholder Theodore Narozanick and Surrogate Marie Muhler. That will trigger another heated convention for the two posts. Several of the candidates who ran unsuccessfully on Saturday would likely compete for Narozanick's seat (and technically, the newly-elected Little could receive opposition for party support to run in a November Special Election for Handlin's unexpired term), but additional candidates could emerge as a result of the recent contest. Longtime Middletown Committeewoman (and former Mayor) Rosemarie Peters and Little Silver Councilman Richard DeNoia both want to run for Surrogate.

The 84-year-old Narozanick was an Englishtown Councilman from 1946 to 1954, Mayor from 1954 to 1962, Monmouth County Administrator from 1958 to 1985, and Freeholder since 1986. Muhler served as a Marlboro Councilwoman before winning a State Assembly seat in 1975 (she defeated Democratic incumbent Morton Salkind, still politicall active as a North Jersey developer). She nearly won election to Congress in 1980, winning 49% of the vote against eight-term incumbent James Howard, and became Surrogate in 1991.

Trivia: Who was the last Republican to lose a race for county office in Monmouth? That would be Fred Niemann, who lost his bid for Surrogate in 1986. Niemann also lost an '04 bid for Republican County Committee in his own district in Wall.

Monmouth County Republicans are headed into Saturday's Special Election Convention with six candidates vying Amy Handlin's Freeholder seat. The conventional wisdom is that Howell Mayor Joseph DiBella is the front-runner, but Wall Republican Municipal Chairman Robert McKenna and Highlands Councilwoman Anna Little. Hazlet Committeewoman Bridget Antonucci and Marlboro Mayor Robert Kleinberg have some pockets of County Committee votes,and attorney Thomas Seno is viewed as having a lock of last place. DiBella has won endorsements from State Senator Joseph Kyrillos and Freeholder Director Bill Barham; McKenna's key backer is Assemblyman Sean Kean, while Little has support from Freeholder Theodore Narozanick and former Freehodler Thomas Powers. The worst kept secret in the Monmouth GOP right now is that the Republican County Chairman, Frederick Niemann, is quietly backing DiBella. Republicans will have another fierce contest in about two months, if Narozanick and Surrogate Marie Muhler decide not to seek re-election, and a third in June -- two challengers have already entered the race to take on Niemann for County Chairman.