By Elaine Van Develde

Republican incumbents kept their seats on Fair Haven Borough Council by a comfortable margin, with 2,339 votes cast, or more than half the estimated 4,000 registered voters in the borough.

With newcomer Democrat Shervyn von Hoerl vying for one of the two three-year governing body terms up for grabs, a win for him would have put a long-unprecedented two Democrats on the dais.

He did not succeed. The challenger, von Hoerl ended up with 621 votes, or nearly 27 percent of the vote.

The high vote-getter in the race was Councilman Eric Jaeger, with 876, or more than 37 percent.

Jaeger’s running mate Robert Marchese won his third term to council with 834 votes, or roughly 36 percent.

There were eight write-ins.

Fair Haven’s form of government is a Borough Council form. In this form of municipal government, there are six council members with three-year terms and a mayor with a four-year term.

While the mayor presides over meetings, he does not vote, unless to break a tie.

The mayor does, however, have veto power.