By Emily Schopfer
FAIR HAVEN – The blue wave that swept over much of the nation included Fair Haven on Election Day. The borough saw a contested general election, with four candidates running for two full-term seats on the borough council, and three candidates vying for the mayoral seat.
In the end, Democrats Marian Croak and former borough council president Christopher Rodriguez were elected to council. Democrat and current council member Michal DiMiceli was elected as the borough’s new mayor. Croak, Rodriguez and DiMiceli will all take office in January.
Prior to the Nov. 3 election, Fair Haven’s six-person borough council consisted of four Republicans (Elizabeth Koch, Tracy Cole, Brian Olson and Kevin Griffin) and two Democrats (DiMiceli and Christina Malecki). Terms for Olson and DiMiceli both expire Dec. 31. Current Mayor Josh Halpern, a Republican, whose term also ends in December, chose not to run for reelection.
The pendulum appears to have swung, however, and the borough council has equal representation between Republicans (Koch, Cole and Griffin) and Democrats (Malecki, Croak and Rodriguez).
“I’m incredibly excited and proud of our entire team,” DiMiceli told The Two River Times. She spoke on behalf of all the Democrats on the ticket. “When I was first elected to council three years ago, I was the only Democrat serving, so to see how far we’ve come is really exciting. I’m especially thrilled to have Marian and Chris joining council. They both bring tremendous experience, talent and fresh perspectives, and I know they’ll be incredible assets to Fair Haven.”
Although mail-in ballots are still being counted, unofficial results from the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office show that DiMiceli won 39.36% of the votes (1,193 of the 3,031 votes cast).
Republican and current council President Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ M. Koch came in second, with 35.6% (1,079) of the votes. Independent candidate Diana Anttonen won 24.91% (755) of the votes.
On the council, Croak received the most votes – 1,657 or 27.79% of the 5,962 votes cast. Rodriguez was close behind, winning 26.8% of the votes (1,598). Of the Republican candidates, Kristen A. Hoey received 23.3% of the votes (1,389) and incumbent Brian W. Olson received 21.92% (1,307).
“Of course, every vote needs to be counted, and Fair Haven’s races tend to be very close,” DiMiceli said, but she is confident and excited about the results. “We’re feeling very encouraged by where things stand and have already started looking ahead to the transition,” she said. “There’s a lot to do, and I’m excited to get started in this new role.”
This article originally appeared in the November 12-18, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
