Orange Mayor Dwayne Warren coasted to a comfortable 19-point victory to win re-election to his fourth term.
Warren defeated Councilwoman Quantavia Hilbert by a 56%-37% margin, with former Councilwoman April Gaunt-Butler finishing third with 7%.
Three incumbent At-large members of the city council – Weldon Montague, Clifford Ross, and Adrienne Wooten, were unopposed; Wooten was the top vote-getter.
A former assistant Essex County prosecutor, municipal court judge, and counsel to the Essex County Democratic Committee, Warren was first elected mayor in 2012. He defeated incumbent Eldridge Hawkins, Jr. by a 39%-33% margin in a four-candidate field.
The most dramatic moment of the campaign came in March, when a Superior Court judge found allegations that City Clerk Joyce Lanier rigged the ballot draw to be credible and ordered a do-over.
Warren had nabbed the top ballot spot the first time; Hilbert got that position on the redraw, but it didn’t matter.