Democrat County Chairman Fred Potter and former Chairman Al Santoro, head of this year's Democrat Candidate Recruitment effort, flipped a coin to see which of them would have the onerous task of announcing the pathetic slate of 2005 Democratic losers.

The rich tradition of conceding the election months before the voters go to the polls, brought to a high point last year when Potter tossed three Democratic freeholder candidates under the bus to protect a few scraps of public payroll patronage, will continue in 2005 with a freeholder seat up for grabs.

There are also two state assembly seats to be contested in each of the county's three legislative districts.

Santoro Won The Coin Toss, So
Sheehan Made The Loser Announcement

The coin toss was won by Santoro, an election board employee compliments of Republican county chairman George Gilmore, so Santoro assigned the painful task of announcing the Democratic slate, carefully crafted so it would not have the slightest chance of winning even in a Democratic year, to Pine Beach Councilman Patrick Sheehan, ironically one of the two or three Democrats elected in Ocean County last year.

Sheehan is the treasurer for the Democratic County Committee, and he announced the Democratic slate like a school principal releasing the most recent detention list.

No Press Release; Just A List Of The Condemned

There was no press release full of superlatives; just an unelaborated list of the condemned.

Former Lakewood Township Committeewoman Marta Harrison will run for Freeholder.

Former Jackson Committeeman Marvin Krakower and former Lakewood Democratic Club President Jeffrey Williamson will be candidates for Assembly in the 30th District.

Former Barnegat Mayor Dolores Coulter and Beach Haven Commissioner James Denuyl, recently embroiled in a Pay-To-Play dispute with Mayor Deborah Whitcraft, will run for Assembly in the 9th District.

10th District GOP Incumbents, Weak Candidates
With Lots Of Baggage, Luck Out Again

The 10th District is currently served by incumbents James Holzapfel, a pay-to-play lawyer who gets more no-bid contracts than all but three of the public contract law firms in the county, and David Wolfe, an employee of the County College whose recent elevation to a low-show Government Relations and External Affairs Liaison payroll-pad job (title has a nice bureaucratic ring) brought his public salaries and benefits to more than $210,000 including a double-dip health benefit kickback.

Democrats Had A Shot, So They Shot
Themselves In The Foot • • Again!

Democrats, aided by coattails from Democratic Senator Jon Corzine, the definite Democrat gubernatorial candidate, might have had a shot against Holzapfel (Dover Township) and Wolfe (Brick Township), but Potter and Santoro resumed the practice of shooting themselves in the foot by nominating an absurd husband-and-wife "team" as the 10th District assembly slate.

The Joneses Are Very Nice People

Larry and Joni Jones of Toms River are very nice people who have done good work in the cause of Autism research and services, but an assembly ticket consisting of a husband and wife, running for the same office in the same constituency, will strike most voters as a joke

Mister Jones is a lawyer, so maybe somebody promised him a judgeship for losing to Holzapfel and Wolfe, but unless the ticket is adjusted to feature candidates the public will find acceptable, there will be no contest in the 10th district which, after all, is the way Potter and Santoro wanted it.

The Law Of Unanticipated Consequences

Will Democrat Loser Ticket Weaken 2005 Scarpelli Effort?

The absurd husband-and-wife assembly slate may have the unanticipated consequence of weakening local Democratic candidates in 10th District towns by removing strong issues against Wolfe and Holzapfel, especially in Brick, where Mayor Joseph Scarpelli is seeking re-election, and Dover Township, where four ward council seats are up for grabs in 2005.

So Sheehan held his nose, made the announcement with as little fanfare as possible, and went home, having done his duty like a champ.