Democrats Choose Gopal As Monmouth County Chairman

Democrats meet last night at the Shore Casino in Atlantic Highlands to pick a successor to longtime Monmouth County Chairman Victor Scudiery.


I walked through the doors just after 6pm and was surprised by how many people were in the building, to say that it was a packed house would be an understatement, there were easily 700 people or more in the room by the time the polls were opened at 7:30pm.

Crowd shuffling in at Shore Casino

registration line

waiting for speeches and to vote

The atmosphere in the room was electrified by those in attendance and the enthusiasm was contagious, County Committee members were pumped up and ready to choose Chairman Scudiery’s  successor.  When the voting came to an end at 9pm the tension in the room could be cut with a knife, Gopal supporters and LaRocca supporters were anxiously mulling around waiting for the votes to be tabulated.

votes being tabulated

The two men themselves were nervous but remained courteous and was seen speaking to each other moments before being taken to a back hallway to be informed of the outcome of the voting

Gopal and LaRocca before results were announced

In the end it was Vin Gopal who came out of the voting victorious, garnering over 430 votes which represented 73% of the vote against his opponent Frank LaRocca.

Vin Gopal and Frank LaRocca as results were announced to the crowd

In his concession speech Frank LaRocca was gracious and thanked all those that supported him and he vowed to work with and support Gopal in order to get Democrats elected all throughout the County.

LaRocca's concession speech

Vin Gopal thanked everyone who came out to vote and stated that he looked forward to working with Frank LaRocca and all those in the room and stated that he would work tirelessly as the Party’s Chairman.

Chairman Vin Gopal

And just in case there was any doubt about who I supported  here’s a picture of my vote (sorry Frank).