May 13

Orange Mayor-elect Eldridge Hawkins, Jr. will replace Mims HackettORANGE -Eldridge Hawkins, Jr., a West Orange police officer, defeated At-Large Councilman Donald Page and a field of four other candidates to become the new mayor of Orange.

Hawkins earned 1,061 votes or 30% of the votes, compared to 942 or 27% for Page.

Coming in third was North Ward Councilwoman Tency Eason with 564 votes, followed by Zoning Board Chair Janice Morrell with 417 votes, activist Betty Brown with 285 votes, and Planning Board Chair Dwight Holmes, 212 votes.

Julie Schreck defeated Gary Engelstad by 30 votes to become the new Mayor of Bradley Beach, where longtime incumbent Stephen Schueler did not seek re-election.  Shreck and Engelstad are both members of the Borough Council.  Shreck won 425-395, with 48%-44%, with former school board member Benjamin Waters receiving 71 votes (8%).

Vineland Mayor Perry Barse lost his bid for re-election to a third term, losing 51%-32% to Robert Romano, a police lieutenant. Nicholas Girone finished third with 17%. Romano’s slate of Council candidates were also successful.

In a mayoral race between an incumbent and two of his predecessors, voters in Cape May City ousted Mayor Jerome Inderwies and elected Edward Mahaney by a 530-457 vote margin.  Jerry Gaffney won 87 votes.

Roberta "Bobbie" Rivere wins in Jackson 

JACKSON - Former Mayor Michael Kafton and his team beat incumbent Councilwoman Emily Ingram and her team by a margin of 2-1.

"When Democrats aren't afraid to run on the real issues in their community, even in the counties we think of as Republican, we can win," said Pat Politano, who ran the Kafton campaign.

Mike Reina (an independent Republican running with two Democrats) was the highest vote-getter, receiving 4,028 or 22.39% of the votes, followed by Bobbie Rivere, who won 3,945 or 21.93% of the votes, and Kafton: 3,826 or 21.27%.

The losers - Charles Garafano, Todd Porter and Councilwoman Emily Ingram - received 2,186, 2,021 and 1,947 respectively.

P.J. Mac Donald 

Belleville - Paul Mac Donald defeated Elvin Pereira in the 3rd Ward, 485 to 415 votes, according to the Essex County Clerk's Office.

Perth Amboy Mayor Joseph Vas was defeated for re-election by a wide margin by challenger Wilda Diaz. Vas is a Democratic State Assemblyman.

Vineland Mayor Perry Barse lost his bid for re-election to a third term, losing 51%-32% to Police Lt. Robert Romano, the son of a former Mayor.

In Orange, where Mims Hackett is not seeking re-election as Mayor, Eldridge Hawkins was elected.

In the race for Montclair Mayor, newcomer Jerry Fried defeated (40%) Councilwoman Joyce Michaelson (35%) and Councilman Ted Maddox (25%).

In the race for Ridgewood Council, Keith Killion, Paul Aronsohn and Anne Zusy unseated incumbents Betty Wiest and Jacques Harlow.

Nutley Commissioner Carmen Orechio has lost his bid for re-election to an 11th term. The former State Senate President, who has held the seat since 1968, trails former Essex County Freeholder Joseph Scarpelli by 29 votes. Joanne Cocchiola was the top votegetter in the race for Nutley Town Commissioner, and will continue as Mayor for the next four years. Mauro Tucci, Thomas Evans were re-elected, and Al Petracco was elected.

Sparta will have a runoff election next month after a write-in candidate held four candidates to less than 50% of the vote.

Paul "P.J." Mac Donald and the Lise girls on Election Day 

BELLEVILLE - This town’s toughest race - for an empty seat in the Third Ward - turned tougher today as state troopers finally told overzealous supporters of P.J. Mac Donald and Elvin Pereira to stay away from the polling places.

"I really wish it wouldn’t have gone this way, but I’m afraid it has," said Mac Donald, sitting on Washington Avenue in a van owned by the Teamsters, who have given their support to the retired Essex County corrections officer.

Pereira, a homeowner in Belleville for a year, figures he can win if lifelong resident Mac Donald’s bread and butter senior voter turnout stays low. In the middle of the afternoon, Pereira said morning voter numbers showed his campaign on target.

Nutley Commissioner Carmen Orechio 

NUTLEY - A car pulls up in front of the VFW Building on Washington and Commissioner Carmen Orechio emerges from the passenger side.

"Hey, Carmen!" comes a familiar cry.

The former state senate president is well known in New Jersey.

But everybody knows him in Nutley, where the 84-year old has served for 40 years on the Board of Commissioners.

JACKSON - Team Kafton figured if they kept hitting the Council candidate Michael Kaftonopposition with gypsy moths, taxes and Mayor Mark Seda's salary increase, they could beat incumbent GOP Councilwoman Emily Ingram and her running mates on Election Day.

In a few hours, they will learn the effectiveness of their repeated mail attack pieces coupled with five debate forums in which former Democratic Mayor Michael Kafton and his running mates kept pointing to Ingram's alliance with Seda.

"He's working the senior communities hard," campaign spokesman Pat Politano said of Kafton. "He's wandering everywhere. Mike's been all over town."