Gillian captures fifth term as Ocean City's mayor

Mayor Jay Gillian withstood a challenge from two high-profile opponents to win his fifth term in office in Ocean City’s municipal election Tuesday night.

Unofficial results showed Gillian getting 2,442 votes. His closest challenger, Keith Hartzell, came in at 2,083. Finishing third was Pete Madden with 1,121.

In the City Council race, incumbents Sean Barnes and Tony Polcini and political newcomer Jim Kelly captured the three at-large seats up for grabs. Board of Education member Jocelyn Palaganas was fourth in her failed attempt to win a seat on Council.

Barnes led the Council candidates with 3,687 votes, followed by Kelly at 3,447 and Polcini at 3,253. Palaganas trailed with 2,856 votes, according to unofficial results.

A relatively small number of some mail-in and provisional ballots still must be counted before the results become official, but they aren’t expected to affect the election outcome.

    Deputy City Clerk Elizabeth Farnan, left, and City Clerk Melissa Rasner look over the voting results as they begin to come in.
  

The mayor’s race was a replay of the 2022 election pitting Gillian against Hartzell – when Gillian won by nearly 400 votes. But this time there was a twist when Madden surprised everyone by jumping into the race.

Gillian, Hartzell and Madden are three of Ocean City’s best-known politicians. Hartzell is the longest-serving city councilman – he began in 2006 – and Madden has been a member of the governing body for 12 years.

However, both Hartzell and Madden fell short in their attempt to jump from Council to the mayor’s office.

Madden attributed Gillian’s re-election to his longevity. Gillian first became mayor in 2010 and won re-election in 2014, 2018, 2022 and now.

“People didn’t want change,” Madden said.

Hartzell wasn’t immediately available for comment after the polls closed.

Joined by hundreds of his supporters, Gillian celebrated his victory with a reception at the Flanders Hotel.

“Honestly, I’m surprised at every election, because you just never know what people are thinking. I always say until they go behind that curtain, you never know what’s going to happen,” Gillian said of the voters in an interview with OCNJDaily.com.

Asked to point to one or two things that swayed the election in his favor, Gillian said it was the “16 years of success” during his time in office.

“Ocean City is a great place. Taxes are low. We’ve done all of this infrastructure,” he said.

“Things are good in Ocean City. If things were bad, it would be a different story,” he added.

Gillian and the newly elected Council members will be sworn into their new four-year terms on July 1.

In the interview, Gillian emphasized that he won’t wait until the start of his new term to launch a series of critical infrastructure projects.

“Well, it starts tomorrow. Right now, we are going over plans for a flood-mitigation project from Ninth to 24th Street. We have another plan in the south end,” he said.

“We also have to get ready for Memorial Day. So I’ve been busy. I’m already the mayor. I’m already doing things. Nothing really changes. We just keep on doing what we planned,” he continued.

    Mayoral candidate Pete Madden, center, watches as the vote totals are compiled.
  

Madden, who currently serves as City Council’s vice president, will leave the governing body on June 30 because he ran for mayor instead of seeking re-election to his at-large Council seat.

“It was a great experience. I’m glad I did it,” Madden said of running for mayor.

Despite losing the mayor’s race, Hartzell will be able to remain on Council as the representative of the Second Ward. The four ward Council seats are not up for election until 2028.

Council, though, will have a slightly new look with Madden leaving and newcomer Jim Kelly winning election. Kelly is the founder and former president of the community group Ocean City 2050.

Polcini won his second four-year term on Council.

Barnes was easily the largest vote-getter. He has been on Council since 2024. He won a special election in 2024 to fill the last two years of former Councilwoman Karen Bergman’s four-year term. Bergman resigned in 2024 to take a supervisor job with the city’s Howard S. Stainton Senior Center.

Barnes said that the voters got to know him during his first two years on Council and liked his reputation as an independent member.

“They saw me as the voice of reason and common sense. I think my independence was well-received in the last two years. It showed tonight,” he said of the election results.

    Councilman Sean Barnes speaks with City Clerk Melissa Rasner while the votes are being totaled.