Len Luciano Unofficial Winner in District 4 Freeholder Race

Leonard Luciano, West Caldwell Democrat and Acting District 4 Freeholder, will narrowly squeak by Cedar Grove deputy mayor Joseph Chiusolo in the hotly-contested race for a three-year seat on the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders, county officials confirmed to Patch.

With a gap of only 220 votes between the men, and all districts reporting, Chiusolo's last hope was that enough provisional ballots would have been cast to potentially swing the election his way. Essex County Clerk Chris Durkin confirmed this afternoon that only 123 provisional ballots were used, making victory for the Republican a mathematical impossibility.

"Len Luciano is declared the unofficial winner, being that he has a 220-vote margin with only 123 possible provisional ballots to be counted. Therefore, his lead is insurmountable," Durkin said Wednesday afternoon.

Durkin said the provisional ballots will be counted this week, and that he plans to certify the election on Monday after the final tallies are calculated, at which time Luciano will officially be declared District 4 Freeholder-elect.

On Wednesday morning, when the results were favoring him but were not yet concrete, Luciano declared victory, and thanked his supporters.

"I’m very humbled by the outpouring of support by the voters in District 4. I would like to extend my hand to my opponent and his supporters to join with me and make Essex County an even better place to live for the next three years."

Chiusolo was seen by Republican insiders as the GOP's best chance to secure a seat on the heavily Democrat-dominated nine-member Board of Chosen Freeholders. Al Barlas, the newly-minted chair of the Essex County Republicans, called Chiusolo on Election Day "one of the best candidates we've fielded for this office in a long time"

Chiusolo has since conceded the race. To view the updated story, .

District 4, geographically the largest Freeholder district in Essex County, encompasses Caldwell, Cedar Grove, West Caldwell, North Caldwell, Essex Fells, Fairfield, Livingston, Millburn, West Orange, Roseland and Verona.