The Mayor of Long Branch, New Jersey is the chief executive officer of the city of Long Branch, New Jersey.
What is now Long Branch was split off from Shrewsbury, New Jersey, in 1849 to become Ocean Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey. On April 11, 1867, it became the Long Branch Commission (or Board of Trade) with limited jurisdiction by three commissioners.
The city was incorporated by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 29, 1904 (njleg-128-0376-77) replacing the Long Branch Commission. On May 20, 1904, the city council adopted the Coult Charter as the new form of government, based on the results of a referendum on May 17, 1904, approved by voters. It was officially an independent city. On November 7, 1960, the voters again changed the form of government from Commissioners to Manager-Council. While the council was still elected by the citizens, the mayor was selected by the nine-man council.
Since 1966, enacted by direct petition, the city is governed under the Mayor-Council (Plan A) form of municipal government, the Faulkner Act.[1] [2] The government of consists of a Mayor and a five-member City Council, whose members are elected at-large in nonpartisan elections to serve four-year terms of office on a concurrent basis.[3] Elections, which are held in May, are non-partisan so that party affiliations of candidates are not mentioned on ballots. The inauguration of the new government takes place the following July 1.
The next election for Long Branch Mayor and Council is May 12, 2026.
| Mayor | Birth and death | Term | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Pallone | 2018 to present | He was elected over incumbent Mayor Adam Schneider winning over 60% of the vote on May 8, 2018.[4] His second term as Mayor ends in 2026. He was sworn in on July 1, 2018, by Governor Phil Murphy.[5] He ran on Schneider's team for City Council in 1990 and then ran against him for Mayor in 1994. In that election, he lost by around 500 votes.[6] Pallone ran for City Council again in 2010 narrowly winning the final open seat by 11 votes in a field of 20 candidates. He then won re-election on Schneider's ticket in 2014, and decided to run against him again in 2018; this time almost doubling what Schneider garnered in the final results. He was re-elected unopposed to a second 4-year term as Mayor on May 10, 2022, along with his entire slate of incumbent council members and was again sworn in by Governor Murphy.[7] Pallone is the younger brother of U.S. Representative Frank Pallone. | ||
| Adam Schneider | 1990 to 2018 | He was first elected in 1990 over William George Jr. after being elected to fill in the open seat on the City Council left by Frank Pallone in a special election in 1988. His seventh and final term ended[8] on June 30, 2018. | ||
| Philip D. Huhn | 1982 to 1990 | As a political unknown, Huhn wore out multiple pairs of shoes while running for Mayor and ultimately ousted Mayor Skip Cioffi in an unexpected and major political upset.[9] | ||
| Henry R. "Skip" Cioffi | (1932-2020) | 1970 to 1982[10] | Imposed curfews in 1972 to counter youth violence.[11] | |
| Paul Nastasio, Jr. | (1907-1996) | 1966 to 1970 | Interviewed in 1969 about association with organized crime suspects in Long Branch.[12] | |
| Vincent J. Mazza | d. 2016[13] | 1965 to 1966 | He was appointed in 1965.[14] In 1966 Long Branch switched from the council–manager government to the mayor-council government. This was the second time in five years that Long Branch switched its form of government.[15] | |
| Milton Ferdinand Untermeyer Jr. | (1913/14–1980) | 1963 to 1965 | He served on the commission that recommended that Long Branch change to a new government system.[16] | |
| Thomas L. McClintock | (1926-2016) | 1961 to 1963 | [17] He also served as the Mayor of Colts Neck, New Jersey. He appears to be the only person to have served as mayor of two different municipalities in Monmouth County, New Jersey. He served in the positions 12 years apart.[18] Long Branch adopts a council–manager government. | |
| Paul Kiernan | 1958 to 1961 | |||
| Daniel Joseph Maher | (1893-1980) | 1955 to 1958 | [19] | |
| Alexander Vineburg | d. 1966[20] | 1953 to 1955 | ||
| J. William Jones | 1948 to 1953 (?) | This was his second term. | ||
| Paul Kiernan | (1906/07-1989) | 1944 to 1948 | This is his first term. He became mayor on May 9, 1944. He also served as the Sheriff of Monmouth County, New Jersey.[21] | |
| Alton Verran Evans | (1904-1989) | 1933 to 1944 | He became mayor for his second consecutive term on May 12, 1936. He was born on August 8, 1904, in Larchmont, New York, to Lillian and Moses E. Evans. He attended Swarthmore College and in 1928 he graduated from New York Law School. He was admitted to the New Jersey Bar Association in 1929. He married Getrude M. Hunt on June 24, 1931.[22] He was a member of the District Court of the County of Monmouth, New Jersey from 1943 to 1948. He was the presiding judge on the same court from 1948 to 1965. He served on the New Jersey Superior Court from 1972 to 1974.[23] | |
| Charles Dorman McFaddin | 1932 to 1936 | He became mayor in 1932.[24] | ||
| J. William Jones | 1928 to 1932 | This was his first term. He was born in Long Branch and became mayor in 1928. He also served as the commissioner of parks and public property.[25] | ||
| Frank Leslie Howland | (1877-1946) | 1924 to 1928 | He became mayor in 1924.[26] | |
| Clarence James Housman | (1869-1932) | 1920 to 1924 | He became mayor in 1920. There was an attempt to recall him as mayor.[27] He died on November 14, 1932.[28] [29] | |
| John Walter Flock Sr. | (1873-1952) | 1918 to 1920 | He became mayor in May 1918. He was born in Allentown, New Jersey, on July 30, 1873. He died on December 7, 1952, in Oceanport, New Jersey. | |
| Marshall Woolley | 1916 to 1918 | He became mayor on May 9, 1916. | ||
| Bryant Baxter Newcomb | (1867-1945) | 1912 to 1916 | He became mayor on May 7, 1912. He also served on the Board of Chosen Freeholders for Monmouth County. He died on February 1, 1945, at Monmouth Memorial Hospital after being struck by a taxicab.[30] [31] | |
| Henry Joline | 1912 | Henry Joline was the city council president and was briefly acting mayor in the absence of Edwin Washington Packer from February 1912.[32] Packer resigned as mayor on April 9, 1912 and Joline's role as acting mayor ended with the appointment of Bryant Baxter Newcomb in May. | ||
| Edwin Washington Packer | (died 1926) | 1910 to 1912 | He became mayor in November 1910. Packer left on vacation in February 1912 and during his absence was charged with corruption. His whereabouts were unknown for some time after his due date of return. Upon his reappearance, he pleaded non vult, was fined 500 and resigned as mayor on April 9, 1912.[33] He died on May 18, 1926.[34] | |
| Charles O. McFaddin | (1859-1920) | 1906 to 1910 | He became mayor on November 6, 1906. He was born on September 25, 1859, in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. He married Emma Price of Oceanport, New Jersey, and was the father of future mayor Charles Dorman McFaddin. McFaddin was twice president of the Long Branch Chamber of Commerce. He was the superintendent of freight and passenger rates for the New York and Long Branch Railroad. He also served as a Long Branch city commissioner. He died on February 25, 1920, in Long Branch of heart failure.[35] | |
| 1904 to 1906 | He became mayor in December of 1904. | |||
| Rufus Blodgett | (1834-1910) | 1903 to 1904 | There are claims that he was the first mayor under the reincorporation as a city on April 8, 1903.--> | |
| Charles Asa Francis | (1855-1934) | 1903 to 1906 | He was the first mayor under the reincorporation of Long Branch as a city on April 8, 1903. He was born on October 28, 1855, in Ardena, New Jersey. He died on April 18, 1934, in Long Branch, New Jersey.[36] | |
| Walter S. Reed | 1901 to 1903 | He became mayor on February 22, 1901. He was a physician. | ||
| Benjamin Morris | 1900 to 1901 | His term ended on February 22, 1901. | ||
| Augustus Chandler | 1899 to 1900 | He was born in March 1849 in New Jersey and he died on June 19, 1922, in Long Branch, New Jersey. | ||
| Rufus Blodgett | (1834-1910) | 1894 to 1898 | This was his first term. He served seven terms as mayor. He also served as the superintendent of the New York & Long Branch Railroad for 25 years.[37] [38] [39] | |
| George W. Brown | 1890 to 1893 | This was his second term. | ||
| Thomas Ridge Wooley | 1886 to 1887 | This was his second term. He was elected on September 13, 1886.[40] | ||
| Wilbur Arthur Heisley | 1887 to 1890 | His biography states that he was elected in 1886. Thomas Ridge Wooley also appears in this time slot in an account in the New York Times.[41] | ||
| George W. Brown | 1884 to 1886 | This was his first term. | ||
| Richard Woodward | 1883 to 1884 | |||
| Thomas Ridge Wooley | (1841-?) | 1879 to 1883 | This was his first term. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 10, 1841, to Jordan Woolley. Jordan Woolley was the Sheriff of Monmouth County, New Jersey, and Coroner of Monmouth County, New Jersey and a Monmouth County Freeholder. The family moved to Long Branch in 1862 and Thomas was appointed under sheriff of Monmouth County, serving three years with his father as the sheriff, and two years with his successor, William B. Sutphen.[42] | |
| Joseph E. Cooper | 1867 to 1879 | Joseph E. Cooper was the first Mayor of Long Branch, New Jersey. Long Branch was incorporated on April 11, 1867, with a commission form of government. |