While Election Day was remarkably peaceful in Hoboken on Tuesday, voter turnout was actually up about 10 percent from the city council races from four years ago, based on data provided by the Hudson County Clerk’s Office.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
In 2015, 1,534 ballots were cast in the Mile Square City’s 1st Ward, which went down slightly to 1,499 last week.
The 2nd Ward saw a significant uptick in terms of turnout, with 1,881 votes counted on Tuesday vs. 1,554 four years ago. This may be the most surprising change, given that three candidates ran in 2015 and only two ran in this election cycle.
The most predictable difference was in the 3rd Ward. Uncontested in 2015, Councilman Michael Russo received 735 votes, along with 48 personal choice write ins, making for 783 votes total.
This year, adding an opponent to the mix nearly doubled turnout, with 1,454 voters weighing in, even though Russo never appeared to be in danger of losing to challenger Ron Bautista.
With the only ward with three candidates in 2015, the 4th Ward saw 1,659 voters have their voices heard, which went down to 1,466 this year.
That trend was also consistent in 2019’s 5th Ward race, where three candidates fought for a vacant seat, ending up with 1,741 voters weighing in. That number was a noticeable jump from 1,417 during the last council election.
Finally, the 6th Ward, also a three-way contest, saw a less significant, but still noticeable, uptick from 2015: 1,215 ballots cast then vs. 1,413 ballots cast last week.
All five winners from 2015 found the same result on Tuesday, joined by Phil Cohen, the only successful candidate on the five-person slate backed by Mayor Ravi Bhalla.
1st Ward Councilman Mike DeFusco received 995 votes this time around, compared to 863 during his first council bid.
In the 2nd Ward, incumbent Tiffanie Fisher was 2019’s top voter getter with 1,025, way up from the 775 that got her elected to her first four-year term.
Russo saw similar results, notching 735 votes in the previous race and he was able to bring that figure up to 970 on Tuesday.
Despite one less candidate on the ballot, Ramos posted similar tallies in 2015 and 2019, with vote totals of 980 and 921, respectively, picking up at least two thirds of the vote in each contest.
As for Council President Jen Giattino, the representative in the 6th Ward, her based stayed pretty much the same, at least in terms of votes cast: with 709 in 2015 and then 747 in 2019.
For what it’s worth, outgoing 5th Ward Councilman Peter Cunningham scored 855 votes to win a second term in 2015, while Cohen became his successor by recording 912 votes last week.
A more comprehensive review of the 2015 tallies can be viewed here, courtesy of the Hudson County Clerk’s Office.
Editor’s note: This story was updated on Tuesday, November 12th, after the Hudson County Clerk’s Office counted provisional tallies and certified the results.