The “Together We Can” Bayonne Board of Education seat won three of the four seats on the line today, with Saverio “Sam” Maggio, of the “Voices for Progress” team, taking the third and final three-year term.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Mary Jane Desmond, a former trustee, was the top vote getter with 4,043, and her running mate, Trustee Hector Gonzalez, only about 200 votes behind, according to preliminary tallies from the Hudson County Clerk’s Office.
Maggio, who is currently just four votes shy of Gonzalez, saw his slate get the endorsement of Mayor Jimmy Davis and the Bayonne Education Association, but only he was able to parlay it into a victory.
For the only one-year term, Miriam Bechay is winning a close race against Ali Hassan, up by 293 votes: 2,745 to 2,452, early vote totals show.
“Thank you to every supporter, family member, friend, and neighbor that came out to vote for us. No matter the outcome, it has been an amazing journey. Nothing would have been possible without YOU. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” Together We Can wrote on Facebook.
Their fourth running mate, William Young, currently sits in a distant sixth place. Gina Irizarry, who ran for a fifth time in this election cycle, currently sit in fourth and fifth place, respectively, and ran on the VFP slate.
As it stands now, TWC has won nine of the past 10 board seats that have been contested in the past three elections.
This time around, they had support from the likes of Board President Maria Valado, Board Vice President Christopher Munoz, Trustee Jodi Casais, and Trustee Melissa Godesky-Rodriguez.