The Lakewood kehilla on Tuesday turned out en masse to heed the call of the gedolim and vote for Avi Schnall, and their efforts have paid off. Avi Schnall was declared victorious in his bid to unseat incumbent Ned Thomson to represent the 30th Legislative District in the New Jersey State Assembly. The path to victory wasn’t easy. He entered the race late, and only at the behest of the Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah. From there, it took a tremendous, pedal-to-the-metal communal effort to turn out tens of thousands of votes in support of him. The Schnall campaign ran on two primary themes: heeding the call of the gedolim, and uniting behind his efforts to garner more state funding for Lakewood, which has long been a backbencher when it comes to funding for critical needs, such as busing, infrastructure, education, and special education. When all was said and done, Schnall emerged victorious, despite the uphill battle of winning as a Democrat in the deeply Republican 30th District. As a fascinating aside, Lakewood was the most Republican town in the 2020 election, voting more heavily in favor of then-incumbent President Donald Trump. Just three years later, it has elected a Democrat to represent its district on the New Jersey state level. In other words, despite the best efforts of many who would have been followers of Korach, the overwhelming majority of Lakewood follows its gedolim and votes for its interests – not an elephant or a donkey.