Angel Laboy

Councilman-elect Kenneth Lucianin

PATERSON - Unofficial results of the Passaic City Council race show former School Board member Kennth Lucianin defeating Vice Principal Angel Laboy by 24 votes.

Following the provisional ballot count, Lucianin earned 2,943 to 2,919 for Laboy.

"My hats off to all of the candidates," said Lucianin. "This is not a time to celebrate but to be partners for progress."

Lucianin and Mayor-elect Alex Blanco will be sworn in tonight at City Hall.

"I want to thank everybody who really believes in me," Laboy said in defeat. "There's an election in May and we'll see what happens."

John Currie supervising the provisional ballot count.

PATERSON - Passaic County Chairman of the Board of Elections John Currie - who also serves as chairman of the Democratic Party -  supervises the provisional ballot count here in a third floor jury room at the Passaic County offices in downtown Paterson.

Head-to-head in this Passaic City Council contest are Vice Principal Angel Laboy and former School Board member Kenneth Lucianan.

At last count, Lucianin led Laboy by 103 votes.

Laboy observes the ballot count while Lucianin waits in a secure location for the results.

As soon as this count is done and the winner certified, the results of the mayor’s race will also get the county’s official imprimatur.

PASSAIC – Results of the City Council election remain stalled here as rivals, Vice Principal Angel LaBoy, and former School Board member, Kenneth Lucianin, hang in the balance.

Right now, Lucianin leads LaBoy by 102 votes, with provisional ballots yet to be officially inventoried and forwarded to the Board of Elections office. In the City Clerk’s unofficial tally, Lucianin received 2,895 votes to 2,793 for LaBoy.

At stake in this election?

Kenneth Lucianin

PASSAIC – In the race for former Councilman Marcellus Jackson’s vacated seat, the Passaic County Clerk’s Office has designated Kenneth Lucianan a close winner over Angel LaBoy, 2769 to 2707 votes.

Although a challenge is likely, a win by Lucianan would mean that both candidates endorsed by Acting Mayor/Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) emerged victorious Tuesday night.

The other is Mayor-Elect Alex Blanco.

Rivals: School Board President Vincent Capuana, left, and Acting Mayor/Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic)

PASSAIC – Opposing forces converge on School No. 3 in the Third Ward, the local political base of Acting Mayor/Assemblyman Gary Schaer.

Schaer and his ally, mayoral candidate Dr. Alex Blanco, greet people in front of the school as they head in to vote.

A car door slams and a slender man jumps the curb.

It’s School Board President Vincent Capuana, one of Blanco’s rivals in the mayors’ contest.

“We’ve been here in Gary’s base since this morning,” confides one of Capuana’s backers. “He moves, we move.”

Lus Santiago, right,applauds his son at City Hall

PASSAIC – Senior lab tech and family man Luis Santiago figures the fact that he’s been married for 36 years and gone to work at the same company for as long, while striving always to be an honorable citizen and taxpayer, ought to count for something in the City Council election.

“I’m fed up,” says the 58-year old father of two sons and four grandchildren. “I’m paying $10,400 a year in property taxes. That’s almost a quarter of my salary. My wife and I, we’re happy. The job I’ve got? The best job I could ever have.”

But local government… well, it leaves something to be desired, in the view of the candidate.A long-shot, he’s vying with four other men to replace downed Councilman Marcellus Jackson, who pleaded guilty to corruption charges last year.

Kenneth Lucianin and childhood friend Lisa Wozny

PASSAIC – Look hard among the lawn signs for the 8th Congressional District race, and you might see a few in there that say “Kennedy for Congress.”

That’s because Democratic Party insider Kenneth Lucianin, a candidate for the City Council, is bringing in  U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) tonight for a bash at his house against the backdrop of the Nov. 4th special elections.

Kennedy is the son of U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.).

Aligned with Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) and mayoral candidate Dr. Alex Blanco, Lucianin is a former school board member, former Port Authority employee, and the son of Kenneth Lucianin, Sr., a retired police director and Passaic patriarch.