In Stunning Defeat, Mike Nikolis Loses By 9 Votes In Holmdel

HOLMDEL, NJ — In a stunning reversal Friday afternoon, provisional ballots in Holmdel were counted and longtime incumbent — and town deputy mayor — Mike Nikolis has lost his Township Committee seat to political newcomer Chiung-yin Cheng Liu.

The final votes were counted Friday, and Liu beat Nikolis by nine votes; she received 666 votes to his 657, according to official vote tallies now posted by the Monmouth County Board of Elections.

"I'm conceding; I can't fight this any longer," Nikolis told Patch Friday afternoon, seconds after the vote count was made public. "I called Mrs. Liu and congratulated her. I could fight this; I could ask for a recount, I could spend thousands of dollars pouring over every single vote. But this is costing me personally and I'm not getting any big outside political donations."

This was meant as a slight jab to Nikolis' one-time ally turned political enemy, Holmdel Mayor Eric Hinds, who comfortably won re-election this week. Hinds ran with the backing of the Monmouth County Republican party. Many in Holmdel were curious to see if Nikolis could keep his seat, as he ran without the support of the powerful county GOP.

Nikolis is a longtime Holmdel Township Committeeman. However, earlier this spring he had a falling out with the county party, led by Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden. Nikolis said he was told to "sit this one out." Instead of him, the Monmouth County Republican Party chose Liu to run as Hinds' running mate. Liu served on the Holmdel Board of Education for several years. But this was her first time running for Township Committee. She was relatively unheard of until her surprise victory this week.

The Holmdel Republican primary election was this past Tuesday. As Patch reported, Holmdel Mayor Eric Hinds won with a comfortable 33.5 percent of the vote (831 votes). Liu was chosen as Hinds' running mate. She received 25 percent of the vote ( 633 votes). But because Nikolis only beat her by 12 votes, receiving 26 percent (645 votes), the race was still too close to officially be called by the Monmouth County Board of Elections.

As of Tuesday, Hinds and Nikolis were deemed the "unofficial" winners.

But there were still more than 70 provisional ballots and they were counted Friday. The official, and final, vote count is now:

Hinds: 874 votes

Liu: 666 votes

Nikolis: 657 votes

Winning by nine votes is incredibly small, but there is no law that now mandates a recount or a re-vote, an official with the Monmouth County Board of Elections told Patch. Any candidate has up to 15 days to request an official recount.

Nikolis said Friday afternoon he will not be asking for a recount.

"I can't go on. I need to sleep at night," he said. "This has already cost me a fortune out of my own pocket."

Nikolis campaigned aggressively in the past few weeks to retain his seat. He will remain a volunteer EMT in Holmdel. He also received the endorsement of the Holmdel Republican Party by a 2-1 vote.

"All I can say is I'm not going away," Nikolis said Friday. "I'm the parent of two children, I'm staying in this town and I'll be here watching and fighting. I'm staying positive and optimistic for the future."

As no Democrats are running, whichever two candidates won the Republican primary will essentially "win" the general election in November. Unless an independent candidate runs, which is always a possibility.