Local government Pine Beach is governed under the
borough form of New Jersey municipal government, which is used in 218 municipalities (of the 564) statewide, making it the most common form of government in New Jersey. The governing body is comprised of the mayor and the borough council, with all positions elected
at-large on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. The mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The borough council includes six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year in a three-year cycle. The borough form of government used by Pine Beach is a "
weak mayor / strong council" government in which council members act as the legislative body with the mayor presiding at meetings and voting only in the event of a tie. The mayor can
veto ordinances subject to an
override by a two-thirds majority vote of the council. The mayor makes committee and liaison assignments for council members, and most appointments are made by the mayor with the advice and consent of the council. , the mayor of the Borough of Pine Beach is
Republican Lawrence W. Cuneo, whose term of office ends December 31, 2023. Members of the Pine Beach Borough Council are Susan Coletti (R, 2023), James Keesling (R, 2024), Raymond Newman (R, 2022), Richard Polhemus (R, 2023), James Saxton (R, 2024) and Barry Wieck (R, 2022).
Federal, state, and county representation Pine Beach is located in the 4th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 9th state legislative district.
Politics As of March 2011, there were a total of 1,609 registered voters in Pine Beach, of which 367 (22.8%) were registered as
Democrats, 505 (31.4%) were registered as
Republicans and 736 (45.7%) were registered as
Unaffiliated. There was one voter registered to another party. Among the borough's 2010 Census population, 75.6% (vs. 63.2% in Ocean County) were registered to vote, including 97.5% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 82.6% countywide). In the
2012 presidential election, Republican
Mitt Romney received 53.2% of the vote (648 cast), ahead of Democrat
Barack Obama with 45.4% (554 votes), and other candidates with 1.4% (17 votes), among the 1,225 ballots cast by the borough's 1,661 registered voters (6 ballots were
spoiled), for a turnout of 73.8%. In the
2008 presidential election, Republican
John McCain received 55.3% of the vote (742 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 41.5% (557 votes) and other candidates with 2.1% (28 votes), among the 1,341 ballots cast by the borough's 1,663 registered voters, for a turnout of 80.6%. In the
2004 presidential election, Republican
George W. Bush received 57.4% of the vote (737 ballots cast), outpolling Democrat
John Kerry with 40.8% (523 votes) and other candidates with 1.2% (19 votes), among the 1,283 ballots cast by the borough's 1,606 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 79.9. In the
2013 gubernatorial election, Republican
Chris Christie received 70.3% of the vote (622 cast), ahead of Democrat
Barbara Buono with 27.5% (243 votes), and other candidates with 2.3% (20 votes), among the 918 ballots cast by the borough's 1,666 registered voters (33 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 55.1%. In the
2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 63.0% of the vote (606 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat
Jon Corzine with 29.0% (279 votes), Independent
Chris Daggett with 5.9% (57 votes) and other candidates with 1.1% (11 votes), among the 962 ballots cast by the borough's 1,650 registered voters, yielding a 58.3% turnout. ==Education==