Can he leap his own pledge in a single bound? Mayor Mike Halfacre’s calf tattoo, bearing his initials and those of his wife and children. (Click to enlarge)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
Mike Halfacre’s days in politics aren’t over yet. And he’s willing to break a longtime pledge to prove it.
Following his withdrawal from the District 12 Congressional race last week, the Republican tells redbankgreen that he’s running for a second term as mayor of Fair Haven in November.
“Yes I am,” he said. “I’m running for mayor in 2010.”
Halfacre said he came to the decision Tuesday night, after talking it over with his family and getting the support of the borough’s Republican committee.
Until then, Halfacre had insisted he was a one-term mayor, with the goal of putting the borough’s financial house in order. During his administration, local tax rates have been cut three years in a row.
Last summer, though, Halfacre focused on a campaign to unseat incumbent Democrat Rush Holt for the District 12 seat, a bid that crashed and burned when he couldn’t attract enough support among powerbrokers in his home county.
To serve just one term “was always my plan, but I never expected to be out of the Congressional race in March,” he said. “That obviously changed dramatically.”
Halfacre, who has a Superman-logo tattoo on his right calf, says he’ll file his intention to run with the borough on Monday, the deadline for such notices.
Halfacre’s chances of remaining as the borough’s top executive another four years would appear to be good, given the GOP dominance of town politics: every member of the borough council is a Republican.
Halfacre says he wants to complete a number of ongoing projects started under his watch, namely a River Road overhaul, upgrades to Fair Haven Fields and the cleanup and makeover of beachfront property on DeNormandie Avenue.
“I love being mayor,” Halfacre said. “I’m happy that I’m going to see it through to the end.”
