Councilman Julio Tavarez

Paterson - New Jersey's third largest city and now on the brink of a mayoral election next year - delivered the same voter turnout for Gov. Jon Corzine that he received four years ago in his first bid for governor.

These results are unofficial and don't include provisionals: Corzine received 16,038 votes in the Silk City, to Republican candidate (now Gov.-elect) Chris Christie's 2,040.

Those numbers almost mirror Corzine's 2005 performance against Mercer buisnessman Doug Forrester: 17,000 to 1,600 votes.

Here's this year's Paterson breakdown in a city that fast is headed toward what sources say will be at least a three-way 2010 slugfest between incumbent Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres (a close ally of Corzine's), Council President Jeffrey Jones (who endorsed Corzine after President Barack Obama's presence here increasingly nationalized the race) and either At-Large Councilman Rigo Rodriguez or 5th Ward Councilman Julio Tavarez (allies, either of whom will engage his base Dominican community in the city):

First Ward: 2,932 votes for Corzine; 256 for Christie; 

Second Ward: 2,546 votes for Corzine, 630 for Christie;  

Third Ward: 3,445 to 386;

Fourth Ward: 2646 to 137;

Fifth Ward: 2009 to 192;

Sixth Ward: 2460 to 439.

A fourth potential mayoral candidate next year is wildcard 6th Ward Councilman Andre Sayegh, who today called on his council colleagues to join him in requesting a Christie sitdown session.

"He does say he's going to be an urban friendly governor, we depend on money from Trenton, and we need to establish good contact with the new administration,"Sayegh said.