You likely won’t know this since this was yet another little stunt being played out of the public’s eye, but yet again, a member of Kearny’s Town Council has pulled a move that says the following: He knows better than the electorate.
In June’s primary election, the current Democratic nominee for the Third Ward Town Council seat Fred Esteves fended off a challenge by fellow democrat Renato da Silva (note: this originally said “Esteves,” given how little da Silva has impacted anything) by a vote margin of 344-284, or 54% to 46%. By choosing Esteves, the Democratic voters told everyone they wanted Esteves to be the one to face Republican Jorge D. Santos in just fewer than two weeks from now.
But if you’ve been around the Third Ward, there are about five signs that were used in the primary, with the name daSilva on them, (two are on the lawns of sitting Third Ward councilmembers) in what appears to be a student-council style project with the original date blackened and with the words added, by hand, “Write In” in black magic marker. We’ve seen some interesting election-time stunts in the past, but this one is the most pathetic and laughable of all time.
The voters of Kearny’s Third Ward already spoke clearly: They chose Esteves over a man who has never won an election and who only sits on the Town Council because he was appointed by a select few people. But for whatever the reason, whether it’s arrogance or any number of other things, this man seriously believes he deserves and knows better than what the electorate said.
Can you even imagine this? There’s a reason why the non-affiliated candidates must have petitions submitted on Primary Election Day by NJ State law — and that is to prohibit losers from getting on the ballot after losing a party nomination.
And don’t for a second think all of the people sitting on the council support this stunt, either, because not all of them do, including some who might surprise you.
All of this reeks of the nonsense we’ve seen in Kearny since the summer of 2023. The losers hate it. They look for any way to get around it — and they are never, ever successful.
Sure, there is a “democratic process” daSilva often speaks of. But it’s not this kind of democracy. Winners move on, losers wait for another go at it. But not in this case.
Remember this, because this is likely just the beginning. We will see his name on the ballot again, whether it’s 2025 or 2026. Remember how he said he knew better than you did when you went to the polls. We know we will.
Learn more about the writer ...
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.