DiMaso in running for freeholder slot GOP chooses deputy mayor to run for Assembly seat BY ERIN O. STATTEL Staff Writer Holmdel Mayor Serena Di- Maso will find out later this month if she has made the cut as a Republican candidate for a seat on the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders. Serena DiMaso DiMaso is currently tied with Red Bank Councilman John Curley to be on the Republican slate for the two seats up for election on the Board of Chosen Freeholders. Incumbent Lillian G. Burry, who is freeholder director, will run for re-election. Freeholder William C. Barham, who is not seeking reelection, currently holds the other seat up for grabs. DiMaso and Curley were among the three GOP finalists who also included Freehold Township Zoning Board member Steven Walsh. Republican Party Chairman Adam Puharic announced their names at the GOP's Feb. 25 Lincoln Day dinner held at the Southgate Manor in Freehold. Also selected by the Monmouth County Republicans was Holmdel Deputy Mayor Alan Bateman, who will challenge Democratic Rep. Rush Holt for a 12th District seat in the House of Representatives. The GOP county convention will be held March 26. "I am very excited for the opportunity to run for freeholder and work alongside Lillian Burry and other freeholders," DiMaso said. "I want to do the same for Monmouth County as I did for Holmdel and bring some good, hard work to the board." DiMaso, an attorney, made it clear that her selection is only a preliminary step toward the final goal, but that the convention comes first. "Whatever the convention delegates decide, I will abide by," DiMaso said. DiMaso is currently serving her third term as mayor of Holmdel Township. According to Bateman, he also has the support of the Hunterdon County Republican Organization. "I will go through the selection process in Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset counties as well," Bateman explained. "I feel that it is very important to get the support of county organizations, because we are all going to have to work together to win in November."