Healy wins JC mayor on first ballot; runoffs in council wards A and F; Fulop re-elected downtown

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy won the Jersey City mayoral election on Tuesday to earn another term in office.
Healy, 58, won by a 2-to-1 margin over second place finisher Louis Manzo, a former assemblyman. Because Healy apparently received more than 50 percent of the vote, there will not be a runoff election for mayor — unless a handful of provisional ballots change that.
As of 11 p.m. Tuesday night, Healy got 16,231 votes while Manzo received 8,059 votes. Finishing in third place was Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith with 3,958 followed by Dan Levin with 1,704 and Phil Webb with 680.
Only provisional ballots have not been counted. Provisional ballots are ballots that are challenged on election day and must be checked out. If the numbers change, then Healy and Manzo could find themselves in a runoff on June 9.
Healy has served as mayor since 2004 when he won a special election to fill the unexpired term of the late Glenn D. Cunningham, and a full term in 2005. Healy had the most money in the race — a $3 million election chest — and a hardworking campaign team.
“We kind of expected this a little bit,” Healy said. “Frankly, I am honored and humbled by the tiurnout today.”
Also successful were council candidates running for at-large and ward council seats, with Healy allies winning the three citywide at-large seats and Wards B,C,D.
However, the Healy team lost Ward E, with popular downtown incumbent Steven Fulop garnering 3,142 votes, far ahead of competitor Guy Catrillo with 1,120.
There will be runoffs in Wards A and F. See the numbers in last night’s breaking news item further down the page. — Ricardo Kaulessar