Local government Avon-by-the-Sea has governed under the
Walsh Act since 1919. The borough is one of 30 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use the
commission form of government. The governing body is comprised of three commissioners who are elected
at-large on a
non-partisan basis as part of the November general election to serve four-year terms of office on a concurrent basis. At a reorganization meeting after each election, each commissioner is assigned a department to administer and oversee; one of the commissioners is chosen to serve as mayor. , members of the Avon-by-the-Sea Board of Commissioners are
Mayor Edward R. Bonanno (Commissioner of Public Affairs and Public Safety), Michelle Devoy (Commissioner of Public Works, Parks and Public Property) and John B. Magrini (Commissioner of Revenue and Finance), all serving concurrent terms of office that end December 31, 2027.
Federal, state and county representation Avon-by-the-Sea is located in the 4th Congressional district and is part of New Jersey's 30th state legislative district.
Politics As of March 2011, there were a total of 1,465 registered voters in Avon-by-the-Sea, of which 379 (25.9%) were registered as
Democrats, 415 (28.3%) were registered as
Republicans and 670 (45.7%) were registered as
Unaffiliated. There was one voter registered to another party. In the
2012 presidential election, Republican
Mitt Romney received 63.3% of the vote (662 cast), ahead of Democrat
Barack Obama with 35.7% (373 votes), and other candidates with 1.1% (11 votes), among the 1,053 ballots cast by the borough's 1,530 registered voters (7 ballots were
spoiled), for a turnout of 68.8%. In the
2008 presidential election, Republican
John McCain received 57.2% of the vote (680 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 40.4% (480 votes) and other candidates with 0.8% (9 votes), among the 1,189 ballots cast by the borough's 1,520 registered voters, for a turnout of 78.2%. In the
2004 presidential election, Republican
George W. Bush received 61.5% of the vote (759 ballots cast), outpolling Democrat
John Kerry with 37.2% (459 votes) and other candidates with 0.2% (3 votes), among the 1,234 ballots cast by the borough's 1,605 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 76.9. In the
2013 gubernatorial election, Republican
Chris Christie received 75.4% of the vote (600 cast), ahead of Democrat
Barbara Buono with 23.0% (183 votes), and other candidates with 1.6% (13 votes), among the 812 ballots cast by the borough's 1,502 registered voters (16 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 54.1%. In the
2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 64.1% of the vote (583 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat
Jon Corzine with 29.6% (269 votes), Independent
Chris Daggett with 5.1% (46 votes) and other candidates with 0.4% (4 votes), among the 909 ballots cast by the borough's 1,484 registered voters, yielding a 61.3% turnout. ==Education==