Erik Larsen

@Erik_Larsen

After a week of public criticism over the Ocean County Republican Party's previous decision not to endorse a candidate for president, the organization's leadership met in a hastily-called meeting Tuesday night and voted to support Donald Trump.

Meeting at the Toms River Hotel on Route 37 less than a week after its nominating convention there, the Ocean County Republican Council cast 105 votes for Trump; 28 votes for Ohio Gov. John Kasich and 6 votes for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

PREVIOUSLY: Ocean County GOP endorses no one for POTUS

The county GOP council is a much smaller authoritative body than the Ocean County Republican Committee. The council is comprised of Republicans who represent Ocean County residents in federal and state elected offices and who themselves reside in Ocean County; the county's constitutional officers such as the sheriff; the freeholders; Republican mayors, a single GOP representative from each township or borough council; municipal party chairs and club presidents — the latter who are awarded additional votes based on the populations of their respective towns.The endorsement of Trump means he will appear as the top tier candidate on the same coveted ballot line as the three incumbent United States congressmen, the sheriff and two of the five freeholders, all representing the official Ocean County Republican Organization in the June 7 Republican primary.

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Freeholder Jack Kelly serves as president of the county GOP council.

Ocean County Republican Chairman George R. Gilmore said the organization decided to make an endorsement after he and the rest of its leadership were besieged by a number of public complaints — including from its hardest-working volunteers — that the county council should have been given the opportunity to vote on a candidate at its nominating convention on March 30.

It was also clear, Gilmore said, that he and others in the organization had underestimated the enthusiasm for Trump's candidacy by rank and file Republicans and many political independents in Ocean County. In hindsight, the criticism was warranted and the vote Tuesday was an effort to correct that mistake, the chairman explained.

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"Democrats are calling me, wanting to switch parties, so they can vote (in the June primary)," Gilmore said. "I know who they're voting for, I suspect it's Trump. These are Reagan Democrats. They're fed up."

In particular, Gilmore said, the breadth of support for Trump in Ocean County's many senior citizen communities has personally surprised him.

"Seniors love Donald Trump," Gilmore said.

Gilmore has agreed to serve as a state delegate for Trump at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, July 18–21.

One week ago, the county GOP endorsed incumbents Chris Smith, Tom MacArthur and Frank LoBiondo for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives, where all three men represent different regions of Ocean County in Congress; Sheriff Michael G. Mastronardy for a second term; and incumbents Jack Kelly and Virginia "Ginny" Haines for the Board of Freeholders.

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After the local races were addressed, Gilmore permitted representatives dispatched to Toms River by each presidential campaign to make their arguments for why Trump, Cruz or Kasich would best serve the interests of Republican voters in the general election this November. However, no further action was taken after the representatives spoke and Gilmore made clear at the time that the organization would endorse no one for president.

Before the nominating convention last week, several senior Republican figures in the county such as Mastronardy and Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr. had expressed their objections to some of Trump's more controversial views. Indeed, Bartlett did not attend Tuesday night's vote.

Erik Larsen: 732-682-9359 or elarsen@gannettnj.com