Local Election Results Yield Few Surprises

Updated 3/12/20

Local election results yielded few surprises.   Joe Biden and Kamala Harris garnered 74% of the Hudson County vote compared to the Biden/Pence share of 25%.

Mirroring the presidential race Senator Cory Booker won with 75%  to Republican Rikin Rit Mehta’s 23%.

Incumbent Democrat Congressman Albio Sires cruised to victory with 75% to Jason Todd Mushnick’s 23% in the 8th congressional district.

In the 10th congressional district, incumbent Democrat Donald Payne won with 77% to the GOP’s Jennifer Zinone’s 19%.

Unopposed Democratic Freeholders Kenneth Kopacz, William O’Dea, Jerry Walker, Yraida Aponte-Lipski and Anthony Romano were all re-elected.

Yousef Saleh  garnered 5,709 votes in a special election to complete the term of the late Michael Yun for Ward D of the Jersey City Municipal Council. Saleh was backed by mayor Steven Fulop. Patrick Ambrossi came in second with 1,631 votes, Cynthia Hadjiyannis received 1,257. Rafael Torres and Lenny Lambert received 1,098 and 328 respectively.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night was the vote on a referendum to fund the arts by way of a property assessment. The yes votes garnered 63% of the vote with 37% voting no.

In the hotly contested race for three seats on the Board of Education, the Education Matters team of Lorenzo Richardson, Gina Verdibello and Lekendrick Shaw handily defeated Asheenia Johnson, Sonia Cintron and Karen Poliski of Change for Children.

Three statewide ballot questions, to legalize recreational use of marijuana, to make peacetime veterans eligible for a $250 property tax deduction, and to postpone state legislative redistricting until after the election on November 2, 2021 should the state receive federal census data after February 15, 2021, all passed.