Although results nationwide were not yet decisive, Democrat Hillary Clinton easily and not surprisingly carried most of Rahway, losing only one voting district to Republican Donald Trump.
Locally, all six City Council ward seats were uncontested, with six Democrats retaining their seats for four more years. The next mayoral election will be 2018, along with three at-large council seats.
Election results are unofficial and only include machine ballots. Results typically are certified by the county clerk’s office in about a week or so.
Among 11,125 machine ballots cast on Tuesday, Clinton took 70 percent (7,756 votes) to Trump’s 26 percent (2,924 votes). Libertarian Gary Johnson picked up 1 percent (139 votes). Clinton won 23 of 24 voting districts in Rahway; Trump only carried District 4 in the 6th Ward (238-203, 54 percent).
Clinton carried all six wards:
- First Ward: 81-15 percent
- Second Ward: 67-29 percent
- Third Ward: 60-36 percent
- Fourth Ward: 88-9 percent
- Fifth Ward: 70-25 percent
- Sixth Ward: 56-39 percent
The 6th Ward (Inman Heights/Colonia border) has historically leaned more Republican than other wards. In the last 20 years, when a Republican has held a City Council seat locally, it’s most often been in the 6th Ward (though it’s been a few years). And if Republican candidates in other races carry districts locally, it’s usually in the 6th with some in the 3rd (Milton Lake/Clark border).
In the last mayoral race, in 2014, Democrat Samson Steinman carried all six wards citywide, including 20 of 24 voting districts. Republican Patrick Cassio won District 4 in the 2nd Ward, Districts 3 and 4 in the 3rd Ward, and District 2 in the 6th Ward. In 2010, he carried the 3rd and 6th Wards outright, winning 8 of the 24 districts overall against Rick Proctor, who was elected.
In the school board race, the top three vote-getters were:
- Brittany Hale (3,205 votes, 28.6 percent)
- John Da Silva (2,268 votes, 20 percent)
- Darren Lesinski (1,885 votes, 16.9 percent)
Hale also serves as a commissioner on the Redevelopment Agency, having been appointed in June to the remainder of a term that expires in 2018.
Jorge Casalins was fourth with 1,785 votes (15.9 percent), just 100 behind Lesinski. He was followed by Randall Peterson, 1,267 (11.3 percent); incumbent Edward Quinn, 1,026 (9.2 percent), and Lisa Lovell, 854 (7.7 percent).
As for the public questions on the ballot:
Public Question No. 1 on casino gambling failed in Rahway, resoundingly, as it did statewide and almost by the same margins:
- Yes: 1,730 / 23 percent
- No: 5,686 / 77 percent
Public Question No. 2, on dedicating the gas tax, narrowly failed in Rahway, but was still 4 points ahead with almost 80 percent reporting statewide:
- Yes: 3,489 / 49 percent
- No: 3,622 / 51 percent
Public Question No. 3, to make the Union County open space tax permanent gained in Rahway, as it did countywide, 57 percent to 43 percent:
- Yes: 3,358 / 54 percent
- No: 2,858 / 46 percent
