In what could potentially be a precursor to the May 12 municipal election between North Bergen Mayor Nick Sacco and Larry Wainstein, the three candidates Sacco endorsed for today’s board of education race won in definitive fashion.Â
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
While the Hudson County Clerk’s Office still hasn’t released the official vote totals from the race, unofficial tallies have Ruth Shaw leading the pack with 4,052 votes, Claudia Rodriguez netted 3,984 votes and Sam Jaafar rounding out the victorious “Our Children First” team with 3,871 votes.
The “Save Our Schools” slate, the three candidates endorsed by Wainstein, lost by about a 2.5 to 1 margin, with Mary Luz Munoz unofficially earning 1,752 votes, Jeanne Wesley netting 1,521 votes and Jose Canonico notching 1,416 votes.
The election got ugly in the eleventh hour, as Sacco’s team attacked Canonico on his criminal record, while the Wainstein camp went after Jaafar for Facebook posts they deemed racist.