In the race for Kearny’s Third Ward Democratic council nomination, here’s an updated look at the vote tally, as reported by the Hudson County Clerk’s Office. Please note — this is yet to be certified, but these are the results with 9 of 9 districts completed.
Fred Esteves — 334 votes
Renato da Silva — 262 votes
As it appears now, Esteves is the presumptive winner. However, given the pace the results came in, we wouldn’t be surprised to see these numbers change for a myriad of reasons.
This unofficial tally represents Esteves with 56% of the vote and da Silva with 44% of the votes.
A total of 596 ballots have been cast in the Third Ward, an exceptionally low turnout.
If these results do stick, da Silva immediately becomes a lame duck. He was appointed to his seat late last year against the wishes of Mayor Carol Jean Doyle, whose seat he took after she became mayor. da Silva will continue to serve in an appointed capacity until November, when Esteves would square off against Republican nominee, businessman Jorge Santos. The winner of that race would take office as soon as Town Clerk Patricia Carpenter certifies that election.
Then, the seat would be up, once again, in 2025, in addition to three other council seats and the mayor’s seat.
Doyle, meanwhile, supported Esteves in his bid for the nomination, and was her choice to fill the seat that ultimately went to da Silva.
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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.