Lakewood Vaad Backs Cory Booker for Senate Over Republican

 

The Lakewood Vaad, a group of Orthodox Jews , has endorsed Democratic U.S. Senator Cory Booker and Republican Representative Christopher Smith for reelection in the November election.

The organization also supports Republican Ocean County Commissioner Frank Sadeghi for another term.

At the local level, the Vaad backs Democratic Mayor Raymond Coles and Republican Township Committeewoman Deborah Fuentes for reelection to the five member Township Committee. Coles and Fuentes face Republican Moshe Raitzik and Democrat Samantha Stokes.

For the Lakewood Board of Education, the Vaad endorses incumbents Samuel Melnik and Harriet Westbrook Goldberg. With no candidate filed for the third seat, it supports a write in campaign for incumbent Abraham Reich and urges voters to reject a related public question.

In the race for two seats on the Lakewood Board of Fire Commissioners, the group backs incumbents David Bender and Harrison Pfeffer over challenger Larry Loigman.

The Vaad holds major influence among Lakewood’s large Orthodox Jewish population and often issues bipartisan endorsements based on couple of powerful community members needs.