Jersey City School Board Slate Pulls Far Ahead In Election: See Newest Numbers

JERSEY CITY, NJ — One slate of Board of Education members ended Wednesday far ahead in the vote totals, with results still being counted.

On the nine-member school board, three three-year seats were up for election, as well as a spot finishing out a one-year term.

As of 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Danielle Walker, Jessica Taube, and Chloe Williams of the "For Stronger Schools" slate were leading. (See numbers below.)

Since ballots could be mailed in as late as 8 p.m. Tuesday, results are still being counted.

Parents Galvanized

School issues became heated this year after a mother of a special needs student was arrested at a board meeting.

Board Vice President De'Jon Morris had asked for her to be removed, according to a police complaint. Morris ran for re-election Tuesday, but came up short in the preliminary vote totals.

In fact, the four "For Stronger Schools" political newcomers amassed thousands more votes than their competitors as of Tuesday night: Danielle Walker, Jessica Taube, Chloe Williams, and Gina Verdebello.

The vote totals as of Wednesday afternoon were:

Three-Year Terms

• Danielle Walker: 21,802
• Jessica Taube: 20,292
• Chloe Williams: 19,526
• Fernando Garcia: 8,489
• De'Jon Morris: 8,427
• George P. Blount: 8,098
• Julietta Vogt: 8,113
• Videsh A. Bahadur: 7,777
• Alpa Patel: 7,379
• Write-In: 2,789

One-Year Term

• Gina Verdibello: 16,600
• Vanessa Rodriguez: 10,309
• Zebedayo Masongo: 5,071
• Write-In: 597

See updates here.

"Together, they bring decades of experience in social work, youth development, community organizing, housing advocacy, nonprofit leadership, and board governance," says the ticket's website. "They have seen firsthand where the system falls short and what it takes to fix it".

See Jersey City sample ballots here.

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See the election calendar and voter information for New Jersey here.