By Stephen Appezzato
ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – Republican candidates who lost in the November borough election by razor-thin margins are, for a second time, challenging the results.
Council member James Murphy and former candidate Ellen O’Dwyer-Woods filed a lawsuit against newly elected Democratic Mayor Lori Hohenleitner and council member Alyson Forbes contesting the results of the 2023 general election.
The suit alleges that “illegal votes were received and that legal votes were improperly rejected” during the election, leading to Hohenleitner’s and Forbes’ victories.
Specifically, 19 voters who allegedly did not meet residency requirements at the time of the election were named in the lawsuit. An additional three votes were also under scrutiny as the signature on each ballot “indicates that the named voter did not fill out their own ballot,” according to attorneys Matthew Moench and Michael Collins who are representing Murphy and O’Dwyer-Woods.
The argument also states that some legal votes were not properly counted. In particular, one ballot showing votes for Murphy and O’Dwyer-Woods as write-in candidates was allegedly not counted in their favor.
Council member Jon Crowley and former council candidate Arthur Whitehead are listed as interested parties in the filing. Borough Clerk Michelle Clark and Monmouth County Clerk Christine Giordano Hanlon were also listed as they were the officials who oversaw the borough election.
In November, Murphy ran against fellow council member Hohenleitner for mayor, while O’Dwyer-Woods and Whitehead ran alongside Murphy against incumbent Crowley and newcomer Forbes.
The slate of Democrats – Hohenleitner, Crowley and Forbes – eked out a win with vote differentials in the single digits. According to official results on the county clerk’s website, Hohenleitner won by four votes; O’Dwyer-Woods lost to Forbes, the second-place candidate, by 12 votes.
Murphy, who retained his unexpired seat on the council after losing the mayoral race, is currently the lone Republican on the council.
On Dec. 7, Murphy filed a petition for a recount of the mayoral race votes, which revealed Dec. 12 that Hohenleitner had actually won by five votes, confirming her victory.
In the suit filed Dec. 27, lawyers argue, “Between the ballots accepted from non-residents, the signature mismatches, and the write-in votes, the results of the election do not reflect the will of the voters and the election results should be vacate (sic) and Petitioners declared the winners of their respective offices.”
In the alternative, Murphy and O’Dwyer-Woods are requesting a special election for mayor and the two council seats.
Atlantic Highlands Democrats launched an online fundraiser to pay for the legal defense of the suit with ActBlue, a political action committee and fundraising platform that serves left-leaning and Democratic organizations and candidates. On the site the lawsuit is described as “frivolous” and an attempt “to disenfranchise our neighbors.”
On its Facebook page, the Atlantic Highlands Democratic Club promoted the fundraiser, posting that, “Attacks from Atlantic Highlands Republicans prior to and after the election mirror the harmful rhetoric proffered by Republicans at the national level following the 2020 elections.”
The organization noted the results of the 2023 general election in Atlantic Highlands have already been certified – twice – once following the election and once after the Dec. 12 recount.
Two weeks after the lawsuit was filed in Monmouth County Superior Court, council for Hohenleitner and Forbes, Scott Salmon of Jardim Meisner Salmon Sprague & Susser, P.C., submitted a motion to dismiss the claims against Forbes’ “untimely” filing.
The motion argued that O’Dwyer-Woods’ challenge against Forbes was submitted past the deadline, which, according to state law, is 32 days after an election. Because of this, Murphy and O’Dwyer-Woods’ “attempt to try and use the Court’s jurisdiction over Hohenleitner to also confer jurisdiction over a separate and distinguishable race is inappropriate,” Salmon alleged, calling for the claim to be thrown out.
Because Murphy petitioned for a recount in early December, his claim is still valid. A decision on the motion from Judge Richard English has not yet been filed.
Both parties did not provide comment on the ongoing matter to The Two River Times.
Hanlon is represented by Jason Sena and Clark is represented by borough attorney Marguerite Schaffer at the borough’s expense.
The article originally appeared in the January 18 – January 24, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
