Dominicans in NJ city council election
Three Dominican Americans Running For City Council in Paterson, NJ Election Tomorrow
Tomorrow is Non-Partisan Election Day in New Jersey. The race being closely watched is the race for city council in Paterson, New Jersey. Three Dominican Americans are running for city council to represent their council districts (also known as “wards” in the U.S.) The Dominican Americans running are Miguel Diaz (running in the 3rd Ward), Wilkin Santana (running in the 4th Ward), and Julio Tavarez (running in the 5th Ward). Dominicans make up approximately 25% of the population in Paterson, New Jersey and has the highest overall population of Dominicans in New Jersey. However, Paterson had not elected a Dominican to the City Council until 2006, when Rigo Rodriguez became the first Dominican councilman. In New Jersey, some cities that do not have a traditional Democratic/Republican partisan election instead have non-partisan elections. According to PolitickerNJ.com, a victory by one or more of the three Dominican candidates could weaken the political power of Mayor Jose “Joey” Torres, who is the first Latino mayor elected in the history of Paterson but is not supporting any of the Dominican candidates. PolitickerNJ.com suggested that if one of the three Dominicans wins on election day tomorrow, it could open the door for a possible mayoral challenge by Councilman Rigo Rodriguez in 2010. Of the three Dominicans seeking council races, PolitickerNJ.com suggested that Julio Tavarez may have the best chance of winning tomorrow. According to statistics provided by the non-partisan Dominican American National Roundtable (DANR) in Washington, DC, there are currently just three cities in the U.S. that have more than one Dominican serving as city councilmembers (New York, NY; Haverstraw, NY; and Providence, RI). Source: PolitickerNJ.com: Non-Partisan Election Day Preview in NJ
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