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%.