Now in his third year as mayor, Mike Halfacre has set his sights on a seat in Congress.

After months of testing-the-waters fundraising, Fair Haven Mayor Mike Halfacre plans to make his run for Congresss official on Tuesday.

The conservative Republican has scheduled press conferences in his hometown and in Trenton to announce his challenge to incumbent 12th-district Democrat Rush Holt next year.

Halfacre, an attorney and lifelong borough resident,  is in his first term as mayor, and there won’t be a second, he says. He tells redbankgreen he believes he and the all-GOP council he heads have achieved many of the goals he set when running for the office, including tightening up the budget and seeing through a road-improvement program.

“I don’t know what office I’ll hold on January 1, 2011, but I do know it won’t be the office of mayor,” he told us last month. “I am not running for mayor again. I didn’t come into this job thinking I’d make a career of it.”

From a press release issued early Monday morning:

“In his 10 years in Congress, Rush Holt has been ineffective on matters big and small throughout the 12th Congressional District and has compiled a voting record which is not representative of the district he represents”, said Halfacre. “At a time when Americans of all political stripes are growing increasingly concerned about record federal spending and ever expanding government involvement in the private sector, I believe my record as a tax cutting fiscal conservative will be an attractive alternative.”

A press conference is scheduled for 11a at Fair Haven Borough Hall, where local Republicans including state Senator Jennifer Beck of Red Bank will be on hand. A second event for the Trenton press corps is slated for 2p at the Statehouse.