TOMS RIVER, N.J. — The Toms River Democratic Organization has endorsed Jonathan Z. Petro as the Democratic candidate for the 2019 mayoral election, as well as three candidates for council at-large seats in New Jersey’s eighth largest municipality.

Petro is a local business leader and an attorney focusing on family law and real estate. He is managing partner at Carluccio, Leone, Dimon, Doyle & Sacks in Toms River, and graduated from Rutgers University School of Law-Newark. He serves as chairman of the Greater Toms River Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the Ocean County Library Foundation, among other distinguished positions of service within the community. Petro and his husband are lifelong residents of Toms River.

“I’ve always been proud to call Toms River home, but I know this township has the potential to once again be a beacon for folks and families to put down their roots,” Petro said. “We can do more, not just on escalating taxes and development missteps, but on improving the quality of life and increasing community engagement. I’m running to make the improvements that haven’t been made, to develop the ideas that have stagnated on the shelf, and to make this town a better place for all of us.”

Joining Petro on the Democratic slate are Michele Williams, a Toms River school board member and former principal at St. Joseph Grade School; Karin K. Sage, an attorney and shareholder on the Business and Commercial Litigation team at Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, P.A. in Woodbridge; and Drew Boyle, a math teacher in Brick with his Master’s Degree in Educational Administration and Supervision from Rutgers University.

Democrats won three of four seats on the township council in 2017, although one of the winning candidates later switched parties.