Watching a poorly funded Tea Party-approved candidate throw a scare into an opponent this week, Fair Haven Mayor Mike Halfacre kinda wishes he’d stayed in the GOP primary race in the Congressional 12th District, he tells PolitickerNJ.

Halfacre shut down his effort to unseat incumbent Democrat Rush Holt in late March, after he failed to gain endorsements from GOP leaders in Monmouth and Middlesex counties.

But after seeing David Corsi of Oceanport garner 46 percent of the primary vote Tuesday on just $5,000 raised — versus venture capitalist Scott Sipprelle‘s $640,000 warchest — Halfacre rues not staying in the contest, writes Politicker’s Max Pizarro:

Asked if he regreted not running to the finish, particulalry after seeing Corsi’s victory by 768 votes in the Monmouth County portion of the district, Halfacre said, “Absolutely. I made a mistake. No one could have predicted this election result. If we had any idea the line would have been as weak as it was, we would have stayed in.”

Halfacre admitted that at the time of his bow-out, he believed overcoming the county lines was an impossible task without a lot of money.

When he dropped, Halfacre had $40,574 in the bank, according to the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

“Who knew that for the first time in memory you could argue that the county lines actually hurt the candidates,” said the mayor, referring also to the outcome in the 6th Congressional District, where [Highlands Mayor Anna] Little today maintains a 75-vote edge over Rumson newspaper publisher Diane Gooch.

“The Tea Party came through and deserves credit,” Halfacre said.

Halfacre, who announced plans to run for a second term as mayor after dropping out of the House race, told Polticker that despite of his regrets, “the past eight weeks with my family have been great.”