Trenton councilwoman leads by 7 with 30 votes left to count

Thirty uncounted ballots remain from the December 3 runoff election for the South Ward seat on the Trenton City Council, where incumbent Jenna Figueroa Kettenburg is seven votes ahead.

Kettenburg leads challenger Damian Malave, 357-350, a margin of 50.5% to 49.5%.

Depending on challenges, nineteen provisional ballots and eleven vote-by-mail ballots need to be counted. The number could increase if more ballots, postmarked by 8 PM on December 3, arrive by the close of business on December 9.

The Mercer County Board of Elections plans to meet on December 10 at 4 PM to count the remaining ballots and declare a winner.  If the election ends in a tie, a judge must order a new election.

Voter turnout was a weak 9%. Trenton opted out of early voting for the runoff, which would have been conducted at the time.

This is the fifth time Kettenburg and Malave have faced off since 2018.

Kettenburg and Malave tied in the November 5 non-partisan election with 1,044 votes each (46.6%); Evangeline Ugorji finished a distant third with 152 votes (6.8%).

In November 2022, Malave led Kettenburg by 57 votes in the November election, 47.8% to 42.4%; Ugorji trailed with 105 votes (9.8%).    But Kettenburg prevailed in the December runoff, beating Malave by 40 votes, 324-284 (53.3% to 46.7%).

Kettenburg and Malave challenged longtime incumbent George Muschal in 2018.  Muschal led Malave in the May election, 46.3% to 31.1%, with Kettenburg finishing third with 22.5%.  Muschal won the June runoff with 60.5% in what would become his final term.

In 2022, after Trenton moved its municipal elections from May to November, a reset of its city council elections gave four-year terms to three at-large seats and two-year terms to the four ward councilmembers. The winners of the 2024 election will get four-year terms going forward.

In Trenton’s North Ward, Jennifer Williams won a city council runoff by one vote, 428-427, in 2022.  She was unopposed for re-election this year.