State Senator-elect Jennifer Beck is now in the spotlight statewide, pundits say.

‘Ridiculously outspent’ and yet victorious in Tuesday’s election, state Senator-elect Jennifer Beck of Red Bank is now — wait for it — a GOP pol to watch for higher office, today’s Star-Ledger reports.

One pundit is even forecasting two decades into the Beckian future.

“You’d have to say she’s one of the rising stars in the Republican Party, without a doubt,” said Joseph Marbach, chairman of the political science department at Seton Hall University.

“Jennifer Beck is going to be someone you’re going to hear a lot about in the next 20 years,” Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson said. “I don’t think you could rule out seeing her as a statewide candidate some day. I don’t think you could rule out seeing her as a congressional candidate some day.”

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Red Bank Democrats appear to have held their 4-2 council majority with narrow wins Tuesday by Council President Sharon Lee, who bagged a second term, and Zoning Board member Kathleen Horgan.

But Democratic newcomer Ed Zipprich apparently didn’t have enough juice to nudge Grace Cangemi from the seat she’s held as an appointee since March. Uncertified figures have Cangemi beating Zipprich by 59 votes for the right to finish out the term begun by Kaye Ernst, who resigned and moved out of state in January.

The closeness of the race was reminiscent of last year’s finale for mayor and council, in which Cangemi was bested by Mike DuPont by absentee ballots. A recurrence of that seemed unlikely this morning.

“Last year, it swung by 20 votes,” Cangemi said as she awaited the arrival of Jennifer Beck, upset winner in the 12th district Senate race, at the Dublin House early today. “I can’t imagine it swinging by 60 votes this time. We just don’t cast that many absentee votes in Red Bank.”

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Unofficial tallies in the Red Bank Council race indicate that incumbent Sharon Lee and Democratic running mate Kathleen Horgan are winners.

Grace Cangemi appears to have won the one-year spot over Ed Zipprich by 59 votes. But the borough Democrats were holding onto hope of a sweep when an unknown number of absentee and provisional ballots are counted, a process that will still underway as of 10p.

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Council candidate Grace Cangemi arrives at the 8th district polling station (the Senior Citizens’ Center, on Shrewsbury Avenue), presumably to “re-elect” herself. Joe Parrillo of Madison Avenue emerges from a voting booth at the district 4 station, at the United Methodist Church on Broad Street.

Voting was moderate-to-busy at two Red Bank polling stations visited by redbankgreen at midmorning today.

The 4th district had seen about 75 voters come in. Over at the 8th, about 40 citizens had pushed the buttons. Workers at both stations said those numbers were on par with activity seen in the last general election.

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Councilman Michael DuPont contends that this flier, distributed by Republican Councilman John Curley to Red Bank residents last week, is a smear on his wife. [Click on flier to enlarge]

In a letter to the editor published in the current issue of the Two River Times (print version only), DuPont says the handout — printed on vivid green paper — defames his wife, Doreen, who gave birth to twins earlier this year.

As evidence, Dupont cites the flier’s claim that “Our new Mayor [Pasquale] Menna appointed DuPont and [former Mayor Ed] McKenna’s wife to the Planning Board. How cozy.”

On his first day as mayor in January, Menna nominated Christine McKenna to serve as an alternate member of the planning board for a term that ends Dec. 31. The nomination was part of an omnibus reorganization resolution that included several dozen appointments. Curley voted no on the measure, which was passed by the Democratic majority. Download rb_appointments_10107.pdf

DuPont, however, is not on the planning board and has never been, he says.

Here’s an excerpt from DuPont’s letter:

Councilman Curley, your lime-green letter endorsing your colleagues defames my wife with falsehoods and insinuations. You owe her an apology and the truth to the residents of Red Bank. Your lime-green letter is simply political slime.

But Curley’s handout does not make any mention of DuPont’s spouse, unless it is interpreted as meaning DuPont and McKenna are maried to the same woman.

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