Freehold Borough mayor won’t seek third term

Freehold Borough mayor Nolan Higgins will not seek re-election to a third term and will be replaced on the Democratic ticket with councilman Kevin Kane.

If he wins, Kane would follow in the footsteps of his father, Roger Kane, who served as a councilman from 1970 to 1975 and as mayor until 1980.

Republicans haven’t won a mayoral race in Freehold Borough since 1979, when William Boyle defeated council president William Conover with 53% of the vote.

Kane, a councilman for the last eighteen years, worked for Jersey City mayor Steven Fulop as the assistant director in the Office of Tax Abatement and Compliance.  He now works for Marlboro mayor Jon Hornik as head the local community affairs department.

Higgins ran unopposed in 2011 and 2015.

Republicans have not run a candidate for mayor of Freehold borough since 1999, when Democratic incumbent Michael Wilson defeated Republican Jeffrey Jones with 62% of the vote.

The town of 12,052 has a 6-0 Democratic majority on the borough council.