Sciannameo Concedes To Quinn In Asbury Park Mayor Race

ASBURY PARK, NJ — On Wednesday morning, candidate Dan Sciannameo officially conceded the Asbury Park mayoral race to Amy Quinn.

The vote counts as of Wednesday morning, with all the voting districts in, is 2,239 votes for Quinn, and 1,703 votes for Sciannameo. The election has not been certified by the Monmouth County Clerk.

Both Sciannameo and Quinn are Democrats.

"The voters have spoken and I accept their verdict," Sciannameo said at 8 a.m. Wednesday. "I congratulate Amy Quinn. And wish her well. I thank all my supporters and my family. While disappointed in the outcome, I do not feel defeated. I’m proud of the campaign we ran. We raised issues that needed to be raised. It will be harder to ignore them now. That’s a good thing."

"I especially drew strength from our younger supporters who are frustrated and disappointed in many aspects of their government. My message to them is don’t be discouraged. Stay involved and work for the change you want. Run for office yourselves. We need fresh ideas. I’m not a politician and never wanted to be one. I just want what’s best for all of us and the future of our city."

Quinn is deputy mayor of Asbury Park and she will now replace longtime Asbury Park mayor John Moor when he retires in December. Quinn assumes the head job of the city and she will be sworn in January.

Sciannameo is a member of the Asbury Park Planning Board, and he was appointed by Moor. He is known in Asbury Park as someone not afraid to criticize City Hall, or local developers.

Sciannameo is extremely skeptical of plans, just announced in late August, to renovate Asbury Park's aging Convention Hall on the boardwalk. Asbury Park real estate developer Madison Marquette sought to have Sciannameo recused from Planning Board votes after he was publicly critical of their and the city's plans. Before this, in 2022, Sciannameo voted to deny demolition of Holy Spirit Church.

"My local community activism was ignited by the neglect of our iconic boardwalk buildings and what we could do to restore them," Sciannameo said on his campaign website. "In the past and even very recently current city leaders have publicly complained about how difficult Madison Marquette is to deal with ... (Now) in a complete reversal the Mayor & Council and Madison Marquette are now united on the state tax credit award. What happened ? I wish Convention Hall was in the hands of a more trustworthy entity."

He also says the city of Asbury Park and the state act in secrecy.

"What will the city do now about the casino building now that the tax credits have been approved for convention hall?" Sciannameo asked. "Another problem we face in the city is lack of transparency from the city government. City leaders, including my opponent, have sat on their hands for the last 13 years and allowed conditions to badly deteriorate. They own that. The decision to award the tax credits was rushed for political reasons to give the impression during a critical election that convention hall will now be saved."

Asbury Park Mayoral Candidate Dan Sciannameo, Not Afraid To Clash With Developers Or City Hall (Oct. 14)

State Of NJ Planning A Huge Renovation Of Asbury Park's Convention Hall (August)