Julio Tavarez

PATERSON - In arguably the most bitterly contested Paterson wardJulio Tavarez fight of the season, the campaigns of Ward 5 Councilman Juan Torres and challenger Julio Tavarez savored a brief afternoon lull before the 4-8 p.m. press.

"My people are eating now," said Tavarez. "I think overall we are getting a good response out there. We're gearing up. The real fight begins at 4 when all the people start coming home from work."

The challanger last night held a packed pre-Election Day rally at the Masonic Temple, complete with speeches and Latin dance music.

In what many Paterson political insiders believe is Torres's hardest re-election fight over the course of his two terms in office, the councilman today said he is upbeat.

Ward 5 Councilman Juan TorresPATERSON - In a bruising re-election battle, two-term Ward 5 Councilman Juan Torres personally went to the campaign headquarters of challenger Julio Tavarez over the weekend warning his rivals to stay away from his street signs.

"They must be scared," Torres said of the Tavarez campaign.

An ally of Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres, the councilman said that Tavarez partisans removed 14 of his signs in the competitive ward.

Tavarez today was gearing up for his campaign’s "victory rally," where the council candidate intends to prepare his troops to take to the streets tomorrow on Election Day.

Challenger Julio Tavarez greets supporters after his debate performance on Friday night. 

PATERSON: Politics fanatics jamming the tables in the cafeteria in Passaic Community College called this Fifth Ward square-off between Councilman Juan Torres and challenger Julio Tavarez the “can’t hold nothing back” contest.

Tavarez and Torres first butted heads four years ago when Torres’s pointed criticism of a political opponent unleashed a torrent of dismissive words from Tavarez.

Their younger-man versus older-man rivalry didn’t end then.

Having vanquished his other challenger in 2004, Torres now must deal directly with the feisty Tavarez, who thinks he’s built enough of a machine in the years since their public meeting showdown to unseat Torres - an ally but not an immediate relative - of Mayor Joey “Jose” Torres.