HOLMDEL – A primary election finish too close to call finally has an outcome.
When polls closed June 4, sitting Republican committeeman Michael Nikolis held a 12-vote lead over challenger Chiung-Yin Liu for the final committee nomination. But according to official results published by the Monmouth County Clerk’s office, 78 provisional ballots have flipped the decision.
Liu received 33 provisional votes to Nikolis’ 12, bumping her total to 666 votes, while he finished with 657.
Holmdel Mayor Eric Hinds was the overall winner with 874 total votes.
Earlier this year the Monmouth County Republican Party endorsed a ticket that included Hinds and Liu, while Nikolis ran in the fourth column.
In a June 11 interview Liu said it was the goal of county Republican chair Shaun Golden to offer a more diverse ticket.
“They looked for someone who is a female and someone who could help add diversity to the township committee. Diversity is very important key. Holmdel is about 30 percent Asian. It’s a big portion and we don’t have a representative,” Liu said.
In addition to being an Asian-American, Liu said the female perspective also played a role in her inclusion on the ticket.
“As a female, we haven’t been represented (in Holmdel) since Serena (DiMaso). She was the last one. They thought it was time for a female to come up again, so I got a chance. It’s a very exciting part of this. We have to have more of a chance to speak,” Liu said.
DiMaso served as mayor from 2006 to 2010, and sat on the committee from 2002 to 2012. She later served on the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 2012 to 2017 and won a New Jersey Assembly seat representing the 13th district in 2017 when former state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos retired and former Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon went to the state Senate.
Liu, the owner of Liu Music, a private piano studio for young children situated on Route 35 in Middletown, is a 10-year member of the Holmdel Township Board of Education.
Liu said she wasn’t considering running for a seat on the committee until February when the county Republicans contacted her with the proposition.
“I was shocked. I never thought about this position. My daughter is graduating and going to college, so I was probably going to retire (from the board of education). And all of a sudden I have this opportunity. I never even thought about it before,” Liu said.
