WILDWOOD – In his last meeting as Wildwood’s mayor, on New Year’s Eve 2019, Ernie Troiano Jr. said he may be back. Now, he’s putting some odds on it.
“Am I going to run again? Probably about a 99% chance,” Troiano told the Herald last week.
Troiano was the city’s mayor from 2003-2009, when he was recalled by the public over tax raises, among other issues. He began a second term as mayor in 2011, running on a ticket with the city’s current mayor, Peter Byron, then a political newcomer.
Byron said he and Troiano were friends since the 70s, and it was Troiano who first called to encourage Byron to get into public office. However, their visions differed, and their once competitive friendship deteriorated to the point where they weren’t really talking, despite still serving together in City Hall.
Byron ended up filing a lawsuit, accusing Troiano of retaliating against him politically, by stripping Byron of some of his power when he didn’t vote in line with the former mayor. The case was dismissed in 2018, but the damage was done, and in 2019, they were running with separate teams against each other.
Byron, with newcomers Steve Mikulski and Krista Fitzsimmons, campaigned hard and got the votes needed to oust Troiano.
“I learned a lot of things in the last election that I’ll make sure doesn’t happen again, but it is what it is, no sour grapes. They won,” Troiano said. “I started things and I want to finish them. I wasn’t finished.”
Byron said he wasn’t surprised or concerned by the news that Troiano is saying he plans to run.
“Let him run. Bring it on,” said Byron, who believes his team’s record so far speaks for itself.
“We did what we said. We were fiscally responsible,” Byron said. “In addition to that, all you have to do is drive around and see all the new construction going on… It’s a whole different day in the City of Wildwood. It’s not a coincidence that we get new leadership in 4400 New Jersey Avenue and now these developers are flocking back to town.”
Wildwood’s next election is November 2023.
