Kearny has its first female mayor since 1938 and the first ever who is the elected the choice of the people.
Carol Jean Doyle, who for the last 27 years had served as a Third Ward Councilwoman, unofficially won the mayoralty on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023, fending back two challengers — former Councilman and former interim Mayor Peter P. Santana and town realtor Sydney J. Ferreira.
Doyle ran as an unaffiliated Democrat whilst Santana ran as a Democrat and Ferreira as a Republican.
The uncertified results have Doyle with 1,720 votes; Ferreira with 1,439 votes; and Santana with 1,412 votes. This tally includes early voters and vote-by-mail ballots.
The only other woman who has served as mayor of Kearny was Therese Jones, who became mayor herself when her own husband, Arthur Jones, died in office in 1938. Mrs. Jones’s mayoralty was the briefest in town history. Santana’s was the second-shortest.
If Town Clerk Patricia Carpenter certifies the election tonight or Wednesday, Doyle would be sworn in Wednesday at Town Hall. Similarly, Santana, who resigned his Second Ward Town Council seat over the summer to become the interim mayor, becomes a private citizen.
We will have much more in the coming days on www.theobserver.com and in the Nov. 15, 2023, edition of The Observer.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.