By JF Grodeska
ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – The Atlantic Highlands Republicans held an election night vigil at the law office of Wendy Crowther on First Avenue, hosting a crowd of about 25 supporters, family members and friends who came to stand by their candidates – James Murphy for mayor, and Ellen O’Dwyer-Woods and Arthur “Vinnie” Whitehead for borough council.
The atmosphere was cheerful yet tense as they waited for the results.
“It’s going to be really tight,” campaign manager Susan Kayata predicted. Brian Boms, former borough council president, echoed her sentiment.
O’Dwyer-Woods was more confident and, though apprehensive, believed she would win a seat on the council. She was right – at least according to the preliminary numbers.
Down the street from the GOP watch party, the Atlantic Highlands Democratic Party hosted its gathering at Kevin Smith’s Smodcastle Cinemas with a crowd of about 40 people. By 9 p.m. with no counts reported, everyone was getting restless.
Finally, Democratic Party Chair Regina Hawley-Keelan entered the theater and announced the preliminary results: By just 10 votes, Democrat Lori Hohenleitner lost her bid to become the borough’s next mayor. Murphy has so far received 817 votes to Hohenleitner’s 807.
The council race was also incredibly close. Crowley grabbed the most votes with 830; O’Dwyer-Woods got 817; Forbes received 809; and Whitehead 780. However, these tallies represent only the ballots processed through voting machines: All counts are unofficial until the county clerk certifies the election. Mail-in ballots may be counted up to six days after Election Day.
“There is no way of knowing how the mail-ins will affect us,” Murphy said. “They could come in for us or for Lori. Only time will tell.”
In an emotional speech to supporters, Hohenleitner said, “No matter what, I feel really proud of the campaign that we ran. I feel really proud that we stayed positive.”
“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.”
“We have to watch it the next day – I would say probably the next day or two – and hopefully, you know, I’m very optimistic. I think that we put on a great campaign,” said Hawley-Keelan.
Should the results stand, the balance of power in Atlantic Highlands will remain the same: a Republican mayor with five Democratic council members and one Republican council member.
Updated election results can be found at monmouthcountyvotes.com.
The article originally appeared in the November 9 – November 15, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
