By JF Grodeska
ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – In a not entirely unexpected turnaround, Democrats have swept the races in Atlantic Highlands.
On election night Nov. 7, when all votes cast from early voting and Election Day machines were counted, Republican James Murphy had eked out a slight lead over Democrat Lori Hohenleitner for mayor. Jon Crowley was reelected to his council seat and it appeared Republican Ellen O’Dywer-Woods had beaten out her running mate Arthur Whitehead and Democrat Alyson Forbes for the other open seat.
But in New Jersey, mail-in ballots can be counted up to six days after Election Day, provided they were postmarked on or before Nov. 7. While studies have shown mail-in ballots do not favor one party over another, in a tight race, those ballots flipped the result.
With all mail-in ballots processed, Hohenleitner now leads Murphy by just three votes, 845 to 842.
And Forbes passed O’Dwyer-Woods to grab a council seat by 11 votes, 851 to 840. On election night, O’Dwyer-Woods’ lead was eight.
Crowley held his seat, grabbing 41 more votes for a total of 871. Whitehead ended up with 800 votes.
The victory is a landmark; when Hohenleitner and Forbes take office in January, the entire government of Atlantic Highlands will be Democratic.
In a statement released on Facebook, the Atlantic Highlands Democratic Club lauded the flip.
“The votes are in! Hohenleitner, Crowley, and Forbes take their seats! We are extremely grateful for your patience and support, especially over the past week. We are excited to get to work for Atlantic Highlands residents. THANK YOU!”
State Sen. Vin Gopal (D-11), who won reelection Nov. 7 in a landslide, commented on the post: “Let’s go Mayor-Elect Lori Hohenleitner – Congratulations my friend! Every vote counts!”
On election night, with voting machine ballots counted, Hohenleitner was down 10 votes, 807 to Murphy’s 817. She told supporters then, “I think that we need to be better Democrats in Atlantic Highlands, because this shouldn’t have happened, it should not. In the red wave election last year, we turned out, we turned up, and we elected two Democrats. So, I think we need to take that very seriously.
I hope that when all the votes that I don’t know about in the mail come in, I will take those words back.”
While Hohenleitner will have to rescind her words, she has elevated the bar for her term as mayor and that of the council, calling for them all to be better Democrats.
Although all ballots have been processed, the results of the race are unofficial until certified by the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office.
This article originally appeared in the November 16 – 22, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
