The city was incorporated by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 29, 1904 (njleg-128-0376-77) replacing the Long Branch Commission. On May 20, 1904, the city council adopted the Coult Charter as the new form of government, based on the results of a referendum on May 17, 1904, approved by voters. It was officially an independent city. On November 7, 1960, the voters again changed the form of government from Commissioners to Manager-Council. While the council was still elected by the citizens, the mayor was selected by the nine-man council.
Since 1966, enacted by direct petition, the city is governed under the Mayor-Council (Plan A) form of municipal government, the Faulkner Act.[1][2] The government of consists of a Mayor and a five-member City Council, whose members are elected at-large in nonpartisan elections to serve four-year terms of office on a concurrent basis.[3] Elections, which are held in May, are non-partisan so that party affiliations of candidates are not mentioned on ballots. The inauguration of the new government takes place the following July 1.
The next election for Long Branch Mayor and Council is May 12, 2026.
Mayors
Mayor
Birth and death
Term
Notes
John Pallone
2018 to present
He was elected over incumbent Mayor Adam Schneider winning over 60% of the vote on May 8, 2018.[4] His second term as Mayor ends in 2026. He was sworn in on July 1, 2018, by GovernorPhil Murphy.[5] He ran on Schneider's team for City Council in 1990 and then ran against him for Mayor in 1994. In that election, he lost by around 500 votes.[6] Pallone ran for City Council again in 2010 narrowly winning the final open seat by 11 votes in a field of 20 candidates running for 5 seats. He then won re-election on Schneider's ticket in 2014, and decided to run against him again in 2018; this time almost doubling what Schneider garnered in the final results. He was re-elected unopposed to a second 4-year term as Mayor on May 10, 2022, along with his entire slate of incumbent council members and was again sworn in by Governor Murphy.[7] Pallone is the younger brother of U.S. RepresentativeFrank Pallone.
Adam Schneider
1990 to 2018
He was first elected in 1990 over William George Jr. after being elected to fill in the open seat on the City Council left by Frank Pallone in a special election in 1988. His seventh and final term ended[8] on June 30, 2018.
Philip D. Huhn
1982 to 1990
As a political unknown, Huhn wore out multiple pairs of shoes while running for Mayor and ultimately ousted Mayor Skip Cioffi in an unexpected and major political upset.[9]
He became mayor for his second consecutive term on May 12, 1936. He was born on August 8, 1904, in Larchmont, New York, to Lillian and Moses E. Evans. He attended Swarthmore College and in 1928 he graduated from New York Law School. He was admitted to the New Jersey Bar Association in 1929. He married Getrude M. Hunt on June 24, 1931.[23] He was a member of the District Court of the County of Monmouth, New Jersey from 1943 to 1948. He was the presiding judge on the same court from 1948 to 1965. He served on the New Jersey Superior Court from 1972 to 1974.[24]
Henry Joline was the city council president and was briefly acting mayor in the absence of Edwin Washington Packer from February 1912.[33] Packer resigned as mayor on April 9, 1912[34] and Joline's role as acting mayor ended with the appointment of Bryant Baxter Newcomb in May.[31]
Edwin Washington Packer
(died 1926)
1910 to 1912
He became mayor in November 1910.[citation needed] Packer left on vacation in February 1912 and during his absence was charged with corruption. His whereabouts were unknown for some time after his due date of return.[33] Upon his reappearance, he pleaded non vult, was fined US$500 and resigned as mayor on April 9, 1912.[34] He died on May 18, 1926.[35]
Charles O. McFaddin
(1859-1920)
1906 to 1910
He became mayor on November 6, 1906. He was born on September 25, 1859, in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. He married Emma Price of Oceanport, New Jersey, and was the father of future mayor Charles Dorman McFaddin. McFaddin was twice president of the Long Branch Chamber of Commerce. He was the superintendent of freight and passenger rates for the New York and Long Branch Railroad. He also served as a Long Branch city commissioner. He died on February 25, 1920, in Long Branch of heart failure.[36]
He was the first mayor under the reincorporation of Long Branch as a city on April 8, 1903. He was born on October 28, 1855, in Ardena, New Jersey. He died on April 18, 1934, in Long Branch, New Jersey.[37]
Walter S. Reed
1901 to 1903
He became mayor on February 22, 1901. He was a physician.
Benjamin Morris
1900 to 1901
His term ended on February 22, 1901.
Augustus Chandler
1899 to 1900
He was born in March 1849 in New Jersey and he died on June 19, 1922, in Long Branch, New Jersey.
This was his second term. He was elected on September 13, 1886.[41][42]
Wilbur Arthur Heisley
1887 to 1890
His biography states that he was elected in 1886. Thomas Ridge Wooley also appears in this time slot in an account in the New York Times.[43]
George W. Brown
1884 to 1886
This was his first term.
Richard Woodward
1883 to 1884
Thomas Ridge Wooley
(1841-?)
1879 to 1883
This was his first term. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 10, 1841, to Jordan Woolley. Jordan Woolley was the Sheriff of Monmouth County, New Jersey, and Coroner of Monmouth County, New Jersey and a Monmouth County Freeholder. The family moved to Long Branch in 1862 and Thomas was appointed under sheriff of Monmouth County, serving three years with his father as the sheriff, and two years with his successor, William B. Sutphen.[42]
Joseph E. Cooper
1867 to 1879
Joseph E. Cooper was the first Mayor of Long Branch, New Jersey. Long Branch was incorporated on April 11, 1867, with a commission form of government.
^ ab"Thomas R. Wooley". The National Cyclopedia of American Biography. 1893. p. 382. Mr. Woolley was elected mayor of Long Branch in 1879, and re-elected annually for five years ... In 1886, under the borough council law, Mr. Woolley was again elected mayor of Long Branch.