JERSEY CITY AND HOBOKEN — While most of the election results in Hudson County were not surprising (see news item below), the two most hotly contested votes have interesting results.
Jersey City
It appears that in Jersey City, the special election to finish two council-at-large seats will go to Viola Richardson and Rolando Lavarro Jr. With 173 of 182 districts reporting at 10:15 p.m., Richardson had 3,881 votes and Lavarro had 3,359. The third place finisher was Suzanne Mack with 3,059 votes. The other 14 candidates finished with under 3,000 votes each.
Hoboken rent control
In Hoboken, the always controversial issue of rent control remained controversial. This past spring, the Hoboken City Council made changes to the city’s longtime rent control ordinance, which applies to most apartments built before 1987 and limits how much landlords can raise the rent each year. Voters had the option of voting “yes” to repeal the city’s changes, or “no” to keep them, as tenant advocates gathered enough signatures earlier this year to place the issue up for a referendum.Rent control amendments were upheld.