Election 2023: Next mayor of Atlantic Highlands might win by 3 votes; council race tight

Jerry Carino, Asbury Park Press
·2 min read

Politicians like to say “every vote counts.” That’s more than a slogan in Atlantic Highlands, where the vote for mayor may well be decided by just three votes.

With all machine votes, mail-in ballots, and provisional ballots counted from the Nov. 7 election, Democrat Lori Hohenleitner stands three votes ahead of Republican James Murphy by a tally of 845 to 842.

According to Jesse Estow of the Monmouth County Clerk’s office, “the only outstanding votes to be counted are for voters who wish to cure their ballot due to any clerical errors for it to be counted.”

The statutory deadline for the state to certify the election result is Nov. 27. Any challenge to the results or recount efforts must be filed through the court system by Nov. 25.

Lori Hohenleitner
Lori Hohenleitner

Hohenleitner and Murphy are members of Atlantic Highlands borough council and vying to replace outgoing Mayor Loretta Gluckstein, a Republican. Hohenleitner is the council president.

“This has been an excruciating week,” Hohenleitner said of waiting for the results. The turnout was actually really high for an off-year election in our town. I respect the voters in Atlantic Highlands for showing up.”

Murphy, the lone Republican on the six-member council, did not respond to multiple emails by the Asbury Park Press asking whether he plans to seek a recount.

“I trust the process, I trust the county and I trust the clerk that everything was done properly,” said Hohenleitner, who has lived in the borough for 18 years. “I don’t blame anyone for wanting to make sure everything is correct. I’m also confident the result will hold.”

Either way, the civic lesson — about the importance of voting — has been reinforced.

“It’s really incredibly important,” Hohenleitner said, adding that she’s “been doing a lot of therapy” for friends and neighbors who were upset in retrospect that they didn’t cast a ballot.

A clock in the park across the street from the municipal building on First Avenue in Atlantic Highlands, NJ.
A clock in the park across the street from the municipal building on First Avenue in Atlantic Highlands, NJ.

The vote for the two open seats on Atlantic Highlands’ borough council also is unusually tight, with Democrats Jon Crowley (871 votes) and Alyson Forbes (851) just ahead of Republican Ellen O’Dwyer Woods (840). Her running mate Arthur Whitehead got 800 votes.

“The results are not official yet,” O’Dwyer Woods said. “But it would make sense to do a recount.”

Jerry Carino is community columnist for the Asbury Park Press, focusing on the Jersey Shore’s interesting people, inspiring stories and pressing issues. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Atlantic Highlands mayor race 2023 might be decided by three votes