Democrats oust Parsippany mayor in upset

Democrat Pulkit Desai has been elected mayor of Parsippany, defeating incumbent James Barberio by 77 votes to take control of the municipal government in Morris County’s largest municipality.

Desai, a political newcomer and U.S. Marine combat veteran, becomes Parsippany’s first Asian American mayor; the township was 32% Asian after the 2020 Census.

Barberio led Desai by 211 votes, 9,550 to 9,339.  But provisional and vote-by-mail ballots counted today by the Morris County Board of Elections gave Desai a lead of 9,975 to 9,898, a margin of 50.2% to 49.8%.

Democrats also picked up two council seats, with Matt Kavanaugh and Diya Patel easily defeating Republican incumbent Frank Neglia and his running mate, Jigar Shah.   That gives Democrats a 3-2 majority on the council.

This is Barberio’s second general election loss.  He had unseated Democratic Mayor Michael Luther by about 600 votes, 52%-48%, in 2009, and was re-elected by roughly 700 votes, 53%-47%, against Democrat Jonathan Nelson in 2013.

But in 2017, Democrat Michael Soriano beat Barberio by 832 votes, 53%-47%.  In a 2021 rematch, Barberio won by 794 votes, 52.5% to 47.5%.