Joe Grillo named new Democratic chair in Asbury Park
Insurgents Duanne Small, Talesha Crank oust longest-serving Dem committee members
The Asbury Park Democratic County Committee celebrated some new additions on Monday night after last week’s primary elections.
The Democratic committee holds elections every two years for two representatives — one male, one female — from each of the city’s nine election districts. The Democratic committee is responsible for overseeing the Democratic party’s interests in the city. Each member also votes for the county Democratic chairperson, as well as for the chairperson of the organization in Asbury Park.
After 18 committee members were selected at last week’s primary election, the winners met on Monday night to select a chair and vice chair for Asbury Park. Joe Grillo [above] was chosen as chair and Talesha Crank as vice chair. Both are new to the position and will serve a two-year term.
Asbury Park historically votes overwhelmingly Democratic in November elections. The city is “about 85 percent Democratic in terms of registered voters,” Grillo said. The chairperson of the Republican organization is Louise Murray.
Grillo has worked as a political consultant for Democratic campaigns for the past several years, he said. He was a field director for new county Democratic chairman Vin Gopal’s assembly race last year.
Grillo is new to the committee himself, despite being unanimously elected chair at the party’s meeting Monday night at Trinity & the Pope.
“The unique thing about the Asbury Park Democrats is we’ve got so many new people on board that it’s really like a brand new committee,” he said.
He also highlighted the committee’s diversity as a strength, although some of its members may not see eye-to-eye on every issue.
“We really have to put all of our divisions and factions at the door and be united,” he said. “We’ve got total diversity in our committee and I want to use that diversity as a strength instead of something that could divide us.”
Grillo himself recommended new member Talesha Crank as his vice chair. Crank and Duanne Small won in the third district, ousting Rev. David J. Parreott Jr. and Angeline Brown, who were on the Democratic committee since the 1970s and 1983, respectively. Parreott and Brown were the longest-serving incumbents on the committee.
Small and Crank were listed in a separate column from the candidates endorsed by the party. It is notoriously difficult to win an election as an off-the-line insurgent candidate, as they did.
“It’s bittersweet,” Grillo said of the off-the-line win. “They ran a really good campaign in their district, although it’s sad to see Rev. Parreott and Angie Brown lose their seats.”
Small and Crank garnered 71 votes each, while Parreott and Brown had 52.
“We were out there campaigning,” Small said of why he and Crank were able to win. “We went to the people and explained to the people our ideas and what we wanted to do, and the people thought the ideas we talked about were needed at this time.”
Small hopes to “bring about a better Democratic committee in the community that represents the people,” he said. “We want to fight for better education for children, more jobs in the community and also help to stop the violence in the community.”
He said the party will also benefit from “new people and new ideas — different blood. When you get people that are involved with politics and they’ve been in a position for a number of years, they tend to go with the flow.”
Crank said she was excited to be elected.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do and we need all the help we can get here in Asbury Park,” she said. “Our main focus is that we definitely need to compel the people here in Asbury Park to come out to the polls.”
The city’s remaining committee members are as follows: Joseph M. Woerner and Maureen T. Glover in the first district; Frank Syphax and Juanita B. Johnson in the second; Grillo and his wife, Seresa Grillo, in the fourth; Howard Dean and Katherine J. Stallard in the fifth; William Potter and Penelope Gnesin in the sixth; Dwight Taylor and Amy Quinn in the seventh; deputy mayor John M. Loffredo and Karen Heyson in the eighth; and Earl Young and Barbara Daniels in the ninth.
The party elected other officers at its meeting Monday night. Stallard will act as corresponding secretary, while Young is recording secretary. Glover is the party’s new treasurer while Syphax is sergeant-at-arms.
