OCEAN CITY — Voters went to the polls in Ocean City Tuesday, May 12, and re-elected Jay Gillian to a fifth term as mayor.
“I think if anything, this election tells us that Ocean City does not like hate, they don’t like the ugliness,” he said at the Flanders Hotel after the results were announced.
“They told us we couldn’t do it,” added his wife, Michele Gillian. “We did. We did a clean campaign. We got out there, we got testimonials, we went door to door, person to person. We got out there and it was a groundswell. That’s what did it.”
Voters also chose Tony Polcini, Sean Barnes and Jim Kelly for the three at-large City Council positions.
These results are unofficial with provisional ballots and some mail ballots yet to be counted.
There was a three-way race for the city’s highest office among Gillian, Councilman Keith Hartzell and Council Vice President Pete Madden — all very familiar to voters.
According to the unofficial results, Gillian earned 1,981 votes, Hartzell received 1,642 and Madden 939, with those other votes yet to be counted.
Barnes earned the most votes, 2,942, with Kelly getting 2,778, Polcini 2,627 and Palaganas 2,270.
“What matters are the people that really care and speak honestly,” Gillian said after giving a short speech in front of a large crowd of supporters at the Flanders Hotel. “They don’t go on social media. I hope this is a testament to people in Ocean City to stay offline.”
Gillian was referencing the vitriolic comments and personal attacks on various social media platforms that have proliferated throughout the campaign.
“Go out and enjoy yourselves, be with your families because too many people waste too much time on (social media),” he added.
“You know, I’ve never been so humbled in my life. This was a tough one and I was nervous,” Gillian said, “but I’m nervous every time because you never know.”
Asked what led his to his fifth consecutive victory, in light of the wild card of a three-candidate race, Gillian pointed to his record.
“I have always run on my record; I never got personal,” he said. “I never went down and dirty and all that kind of stuff, and that’s what everyone thinks you need to get elected. I think Ocean City again has proved if you’re nice and you do the right things, things happen the way that they should.”
Gillian won all but the Second Ward that Hartzell represents, which includes the downtown. Even there, where Hartzell earned 289 votes, Gillian received 271. Madden got 139 in the Second Ward.
Gillian won the First Ward 442 to 361, the Third Ward 376 to 216 and the Fourth Ward 431 to 335.
“I’m not going to make a long speech,” Hartzell told supporters at Prep’s Pizza on the Boardwalk. “I’ve never had this much support in public office. All of you did so much for me and I greatly, greatly appreciate it.
“And we have two more years on council and with Jim (Kelly) there, hopefully we can make a difference and do some things in this government that need to be done,” Hartzell said.
He thanked campaign manager Susan Cracovaner for working so hard.
Asked why he thought he came up short in his second bid for the mayor’s office, Hartzell said, “It’s how the vote goes. Our message didn’t prevail.”
He said he and his team absolutely worked hard and did a great job. “We didn’t hit the goal. That’s all.
“I’m still on council and I’ll continue to represent the Second Ward to the best of my ability,” he said.
Madden said he and his team ran a good campaign, they enjoyed it and had fun. He added he was confident about his chances.
“I met a ton of great people. The experience was unbelievable. I appreciate all the good people in this town who have helped with their time, effort, energy and money. Everything happens for a reason.”
Asked why he thought voters stuck with Gillian, he cited longevity. “People didn’t want to change,” he said.
“Now I’ve got a council seat for a couple more months. I’ll enjoy that. I have lots of kids, lots of work, and I’ve got plenty to keep me busy,” Madden said.
In the council race, Barnes won every ward except the First. Kelly took that 639 to Barnes’ 627.
“I’m really happy with the campaign,” Barnes said. “I think the results kind of prove what the people felt about me for the past two years.”
“You know, I’ve been a voice of reason. I’ve voiced common sense for the people and I think that showed,” he said. “People know they have an independent voice on council, and that I’m going to listen to all the constituents.”
Smiling, he said he was glad that he won’t have to campaign again for another four years.
Palaganas, who is in her third year on the Ocean City Board of Education, was disappointed with the results, but said she was proud that she ran “a positive, clean and respectable campaign.”
She ran a low-key campaign about bringing people together and spent just a fraction of what some of the other candidates spent.
Incumbent Gillian has served four consecutive terms in office after first getting elected mayor in 2010. With just about the same tenure in elected office, Hartzell served for years as an at-large city councilman before challenging Gillian in the 2022 mayoral election. Hartzell lost that matchup, but ran for office in 2024 and was elected as the Second Ward councilman.
Madden has served nearly 12 years on City Council, spending seven of them as council president and the two most recent years as council vice president.
In the council race were newcomers Kelly and Palaganas and incumbents Polcini and Barnes all vying for three seats.
Polcini is finishing his first term in office and Barnes was appointed to council two years ago to fill a seat vacated by Karen Bergman, who left the position to run the Ocean City Senior Center.
A number of issues have factored into the election this year, among them city spending on capital projects and an increasing tax rate, but the most prominent has been the future of the Wonderland Pier amusement park site at Sixth Street and Boardwalk.
Hotelier and developer Eustace Mita bought the site in 2021 from Gillian, and then leased the amusement park back to the mayor who ran it for four more seasons before closing it permanently in mid-October 2024. Mita has proposed a controversial eight-story, 252-room hotel on the site, which is zoned for amusements, not hotels.
There has been an ongoing fight both on City Council and in the public over Mita’s proposal, which currently has been blocked.
Citizens groups formed to fight the proposal and have weighed in against it in the election, specifically opposing Gillian because of his relationship with Mita and Madden, who has unabashedly supported the hotel.
Gillian has not taken a specific position on the hotel, saying City Council and Mita should have worked out a compromise that would suit the site.
Hartzell has opposed a high-rise hotel on the site, but suggested a boutique hotel on the back of the property with other fare that fits the zoning facing the boardwalk.
A political action committee, Our Ocean City, also was formed and promoted ads criticizing Gillian and Madden along with council candidates Polcini and Palaganas. The PAC supported Hartzell for mayor and Kelly and Barnes for City Council.
The new terms in office begin July 1.
Ocean City has three at-large and four ward council members. In addition to Polcini, Barnes, Madden and Hartzell, Dave Winslow represents the Fourth Ward, Jody Levchuk the Third Ward and Terry Crowley Jr. the First Ward. Crowley also serves at City Council president.
— By DAVID NAHAN and CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
