Robyn Gedrich (Photo: Facebook)
Robyn Gedrich, the 23-year-old Brick woman who stirred a media controversy after she said she was kicked off the dating app Tinder is running for office in Ocean County.
Gedrich, who reportedly sent messages to over 600 men on the dating app expressing her support for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, registered earlier this month to run in the June primary for the chance to campaign for a seat on the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders.
This year’s pool of Democratic candidates for two open seats on the freeholder board is large. In addition to candidates candidates running under the official Democratic party banner and the “Ocean Anti-Corruptions Democrats” are two more candidates – Gedrich and Joni Brennan, of Lavallette – running under the “Bernie Sanders” banner.
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Sanders, a self-described socialist who serves as U.S. senator from Vermont, is running against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for president. His popularity within grassroots Democratic circles has earned him tickets running for county offices in both Monmouth and Ocean counties that bear his name.
Gedrich is well known for her promotion of Sanders within the dating app that ultimately resulted in her account being deleted due to what the company considered to be SPAM. Gedrich admitted to “swiping right” on hundreds of men’s photos – an indication that she saw them as a potential match for dating – but instead of sending the men a message of interest, sent what amounted to campaign ad for Sanders.
“Do you feel the bern? Please text WORK to 82623 for me. Thanks!” the messages from Gedrich said.
Sending the text message would sign the men up for Sanders campaign messages to be delivered to their phones.
“There’s so many lazy millennials that would never read about Bernie unless someone sent it right to them [on Tinder],” Gedrich told Tech Insider in an interview.
The primary election takes place June 7. If Gedrich and Brennan manage to best their Democratic competition, they will face heavily-favored GOP incumbents Jack Kelly and Virginia Haines for seats on the board.
