Councilwoman Andrea Hyatt unseated two-term Hillside Mayor Dahlia Vertreese in Tuesday’s nonpartisan municipal election, the New Jersey Globe projects.
As of 9:32 PM, Hyatt led Vertreese,1,861 to 1,015, 65%-35%.
Three at-large council candidates aligned with Hyatt also won runoff elections: Calvin Lofton, Armando Silva, and incumbent Lisa Bonanno. They defeated Vertreese-allied candidates Robert Rios, Josianne Payoute and Sonya McBurrows. Lofton, Silva and Bonanno ran with Council President Craig Epps in the November 4 election.
Hyatt reached the runoff in dramatic fashion. Vertreese led the November general election with 2,426 votes, and the race for the second slot was tight: Hyatt earned 2,106 votes, while Epps received 2,096, falling short by just nine votes.
Senator Andy Kim endorsed Vertreese last month, according to the Hillside Dispatch. She bucked Union County Democratic leaders in endorsing Kim last January. Vertreese is a long-term ally of Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and endorsed the Democrat’s gubernatorial campaign in 2023.
Vertreese broke the 50% threshold in her 2021 re-election campaign, avoiding a runoff against two township council members who challenged her.
She was first elected in a 2017 runoff, defeating Jorge Batista by around 30 votes,
Batista led Vertreese in the November non-partisan election by 227 votes, 35%-30%, in a field of four candidates.
