Results In Hotly Contested Hoboken Election Updated By Hudson County Officials

HOBOKEN, NJ — The final vote totals in Hoboken's hotly contested Nov. 8 Board of Education election were updated and certified by the Hudson County Board of Elections on Monday.

As mail-in votes could still be sent in on Election Day, final totals were not available until this week.

The additional votes did not change the outcome of the election. The "Leadership That Listens" slate, which included a school board incumbent, was the clear winner on Election Day.

The slate of three "Kids First" members came in second. Independent candidate Patricia Waiters came in seventh, and former school board member John Madigan — who was not vocal during the election and did not show up for the candidate debate — came in last.

The results were very different from those cast in the $241M school referendum back in January.

At that time, the majority of ballots were cast against a plan promoted by the incumbent board. But only one incumbent member ran for re-election this fall, and came in third.

(The Leadership That Listens slate acknowledged their opponents' contention that the plan's rollout should have been better handled. Since then, the district has responded to criticism by holding several "round tables" with the community.)

During the campaign, voters delved into the candidates' leanings on issues such as COVID safety measures and LGBTQA+ rights. They also discussed charter schools and the district's test scores.

The candidates were vying for three three-year terms on the nine-member Hoboken Board of Education.

Vote Totals As Of Two Weeks Ago, And Today

• Alex De La Torre (incumbent; Leadership That Listens): 5,236; now 5,556
• Antonio Graña (Leadership That Listens): 5,371; 5,684
• Donna Magen (Kids First): 3,315; 3,474
• Leslie Norwood (Leadership That Listens): 5,938; 6,300
• Pavel Sokolov (Kids First): 3,504; 3,677
• Cindy Wiegand (Kids First): 3,734; 3,941
• Patricia Waiters: 2,353; 2,474
• John Madigan: 1,652; 1,749
• Write-Ins: 103; 109

Leadership That Listens' Statement

The Leadership That Listens team issued a statement the Wednesday afternoon after the election:

"We are extremely thankful that the voters of Hoboken have put their trust in us. From the very first day of this campaign, it has been about creating a better Hoboken and school system for the children of our community, and we cannot wait to continue that work. We are sincerely grateful for all of the supporters and volunteers that worked tirelessly on our behalf."

Kids First's Concession Letter:

On Election Day, Kids First wrote:

"We are so grateful for the overwhelming support we received from the Hoboken community over the last few months. Each of us made the decision to run for the Board of Education because we genuinely want to share our ideas and contributions.

"We are disappointed by the outcome but are proud of how we carried ourselves during the election process. We hope that we showed our community that you can campaign in a respectful manner, and we hope we inspired more people to get involved along the way."

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