Green, Garcia win right to run on Republican line
BY KATHY BARATTA Staff Writer

MANALAPAN - The voters have spoken and in doing so whittled a field of four Republican candidates down to two who will run against a pair of Democrats in November.

There will be two seats on the Township Committee on the November ballot. The seats carry three-year terms.

Ryan Green and William Garcia defeated Kalman "Butch" Budai and Steven Johnson in the June 3 Republican primary. According to Manalapan Municipal Clerk RoseAnn Weeden, the final vote tally was: Green, 474; Garcia, 444; Budai, 378; and Johnson, 363 .

Green thanked the voters ofManalapan for their support in the primary election.He said he wanted to congratulate Johnson and Budai on a tough primary campaign.

"Both sides gave it their all and I wanted to acknowledge that," he said.

Green said he is "excited about the future and looking forward to the campaign in the fall; to discussing he issues and keeping the campaign positive."

Green is currently a member of the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District Board of Education. If he is elected to the Township Committee in November, he will have to give up his seat on the school board.

Garcia thanked voters for showing confidence in him and Green.

"I am honored that my fellow Republicans have validated the support that the Manalapan Republican County Committee showed back inMarch. Thatmy finance education, my 20-plus years in financial services and my unbiased perspective on our issues will allowme to servemy community well.

"I look forward to working withmy running mate Ryan Green to continue the dialogue of ways to cut waste and provide the residents with the most efficient service possible. I want to thank my township neighbors for their support during this primary, and I look forward to the next leg of this race as I represent theminNovember's general election," Garcia said.

Speaking about his and Budai's loss, Johnson said he wanted nonetheless to address the hard work of their supporters.

"I want to thank all of our supporters for a great effort. There are too many to name, but they are all quality people who never asked for recognition in the first place. Our supporters just asked us to be honest and express their desire to change the current direction of our errant Township Committee.

"Now, I want to especially thank Butch Budai for being a stand-up guy who really cares aboutManalapan like I do. There are great things in store for him in the future and I amhonored to have had himas a running mate," Johnson said.

Budai, who is the president of the Manalapan Republican Club, said he had no comment on the results.

In assessing the outcome of the primary, Stephen McEnery, chairman of the Manalapan Republican Party, said, "I was pleased that themajority of (voters) did not want to see Manalapan go the way of a number of other municipalities; with nasty infighting that serves no purpose except inflating personal egos.

"The voters saw through the rhetoric and pandering and selected candidates that are willing to stop complaining and work toward teamwork and positive solutions.

"I believe, along with amajority ofManalapan Republicans, that William Garcia's degree in finance and his experience in financial services and project management and Ryan Green's work in the school systemusing hismaster's degree in social service, can bring the right experience at the right time in Manalapan's history."

Green and Garcia will face Democrats Michelle Roth and Donald Holland in the general election in November. Roth is a member of the Township Committee and is serving as Manalapan's mayor in 2008.

Roth and Holland were not challenged in the Democratic primary. Roth received 811 votes andHolland received 799 votes in the June 3 primary.