'Children First' Candidates Win For Wayne BOE; Incumbents Hold Council

WAYNE, NJ — Wayne voters again selected school board candidates running on a slogan of "Children First" in this year's election, and stuck with incumbent candidates for other races on the ticket, unofficial results show.

The Wayne Township school board had three seats on the ballot this year, and five candidates running for office. Only one of them, current president Don Pavlak, sits on the board right now. Pavlak received the most votes in Tuesday's election, followed by jointly-filed candidates Wendy Limandri and Mark Faber.

Limandri and Faber ran under the "Children First" slogan, as did current board members Barbara Rigoglioso and Ryan Battershill, who won last year.

Board members Sean Duffy and Catherine Kazan did not seek re-election. Former school board president Suzanne Pudup was on the ballot, but was not one of the top vote-getters according to the latest tallies.

Township Council will largely remain the same, with eight Republicans and one Democrat, according to unofficial results. There were contested elections for four council seats, with the closest race being in the 5th Ward — Councilwoman Fran Ritter, the one Democrat on the board, held off challenger Matthew Cavallo by 48 votes.

And, though Council President Franco Mazzei did not run for re-election in the 3rd Ward, Republican candidate Michael Fattal ran unopposed.

At the county level, results show a strong Republican turnout for the county commissioner's race, though incumbent Democrats held on to their spots there and at the county clerk's office.

Here are the latest unofficial results (100 percent reporting):

Wayne Township council

Ward 1:

• Richard Jasterbski (R-inc): 990
• Arlene Sullivan (D): 545

Ward 2:

• Al Sadowski (R-inc.): 1,306

Ward 3:

• Michael Fattal (R): 1,551

Ward 4:

• Joseph Scuralli (R-inc.): 1,480
• Mercedes Aguirre (D): 806

Ward 5:

• Francine Ritter (D-inc.): 783
• Matthew Cavallo (R): 735

Ward 6:

• Jonathan Ettman (R-inc.): 1,156
• Peter Rosky (D): 902

Wayne Schools Board of Education

• Donald Pavlak (incumbent): "Empower, Educate, Elevate": 6,226
• Mark Faber: "Children First" (jointly-filed candidate): 5,848
• Wendy Limandri: "Children First" (jointly-filed candidate): 5,777
• Suzanne Pudup: "United For Wayne": 4,944
• Ehab Husein: "For Kids Sake": 3,499

County offices

County clerk

• Danielle Ireland-Imhof (D-inc.): 33,120
• Rosemary Pino (R) : 30,028
• Write-in: 332

County commissioner

• Bruce James (D-inc.) : 32,106
• Orlando Cruz (D-incumbent): 31,635
• Kelly Amico (R) : 31,155
• Andrena "Andie" Pegel (R) : 30,535
• Write-in: 606

Results are not official until certified by the Passaic County clerk.