Roselle Park Mayor Joseph Signorello, Jr., has increased his lead from six votes to seventeen in a Democratic primary that makes the interim incumbent highly likely to win the nomination.
Signorello leads Gregory Johnson, a First Ward councilman, 606-589. On election night, he was ahead, 585-579.
Roselle Park has counted all outstanding vote-by-mail ballots, but still has 25 provisional ballots remaining. Additional mail-in ballots will be counted if they arrive by the close of business today and are postmarked by 8 PM on June 2.
In New Jersey, provisional ballots are not automatically counted. They are only counted after election officials determine that the voter was eligible to vote and that the ballot was cast properly under state law.
If all 25 provisionals are counted – they almost never are – Johnson would need to win 88% of them to pass Signorello.
Signorello, a former councilman, school board member, and fire chief, became mayor in January after his son, Joseph Signorello III, resigned to take office as a Union County Commissioner.
The Republican nominee is Jorge Ramirez. The GOP has not won a mayoral race in Roselle Park since Joseph DeIorio won his fourth term in 2006.