Belleville

P.J. Mac Donald 

Belleville - Paul Mac Donald defeated Elvin Pereira in the 3rd Ward, defeating him, 485 to 415 votes, according to the Essex County Clerk's Office.

Paul "P.J." Mac Donald and the Lise girls on Election Day 

BELLEVILLE - This town’s toughest race - for an empty seat in the Third Ward - turned tougher today as state troopers finally told overzealous supporters of P.J. Mac Donald and Elvin Pereira to stay away from the polling places.

"I really wish it wouldn’t have gone this way, but I’m afraid it has," said Mac Donald, sitting on Washington Avenue in a van owned by the Teamsters, who have given their support to the retired Essex County corrections officer.

Pereira, a homeowner in Belleville for a year, figures he can win if lifelong resident Mac Donald’s bread and butter senior voter turnout stays low. In the middle of the afternoon, Pereira said morning voter numbers showed his campaign on target.

ORANGE Candidates for mayor: At-Large Councilman Donald Page, North Ward Councilwoman Tency Eason, West Orange Patrolman Eldridge Hawkins, Jr., Zoning Board Chair Janice Morrell, activist Betty Brown, Planning Board Chair Dwight Holmes.

ORANGE - Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) has invested his time, name and $2,600 in Eldridge Hawkins, Jr., son of his former seat mate in the Assembly, who voted in his first Orange election just last year.

Codey’s political enemies will crow if his candidate fails to get anything short of a first place finish, but the former governor’s pick of a 28-year old with "it factor" potential could pay political dividends in the future.

Ward Two Councilman Steve Rovell 

BELLEVILLE - Less than a week before Election Day, both sides open up with everything they’ve got, and the resulting facial expressions and body language indicate that some of the shots have landed.

A glossy mail piece hits the tightknit blue collar neighborhoods off Franklin Avenue that run up against the Parkway on the other side. The man whose face appears in unflattering photos on those mailers storms to the microphone at a rally for him and his running mates.

"It’s pure and utter B.S.," cries Ward Two Councilman Steve Rovell, referring to challenger Mario Drozdz’s charges that Rovell was part of a team that increased taxes $10 million in thee years, indulged in political favoritism and hired nearly a million dollar’s worth of town employees who don’t live in Belleville.

Ward Three Council candidate Paul "P.J." Mac Donald, right, with his ally, Belleville Mayor Ray Kimble. 

BELLEVILLE - All over town, the headquarters of candidates are shuttered on a Monday afternoon, with the exception of Paul "P.J." Mac Donald’s campaign digs on Washington Avenue.

The mood is grimly combative in this roomful of politicians and former cops as Mac Donald recounts what led him to this point, eight days before the May 13 election.

"There was an empty seat and some friends asked me if I’d be interested in running," he says. "I went down to the mayor’s office and sought his support. I called every public official and every one of them gave me his blessing.

"Then I called Caputo."