In district 11, a last minute shot by the Democrats to make the Assembly contest competitive with asix-figure check translated in part into an attack adtargeting Republican David Rible of Wall Township.
Rible is running for the Assembly with MaryPat Angelini of Ocean against Democrats John Napolitani of Interlakenand John Pirnat of Belmar.
The top of the ticket features Republican Assemblyman Sean Kean, who's strong in the district and figures to walk over Democratic challenger John Villapiano. The question iswhether Kean is strong enough to pull Rible and Angelini in with him.
Republican campaign spokesman RyanSharpe said histeam is looking good early. There is a controversial local race in Wall Township – home base for both Kean and Rible – and that'sputting voters in the booths.
"We're so far looking at high turnout in our good districts," saidSharpe. "We're playing a wait and see game at this point, but turnout in Wall is key for this election."
InDemocratic Party headquarters, meanwhile, JimSverapa IV, conceded that the Republican numbers aregood based on the first half of the day.
"But it's too early to say anything,"Sverapa said. "We're getting into our golden voting area now. We're blue collar. We're not going to put our numbers up until after work."
