Andrea Hyatt secured a runoff berth in the Hillside mayoral race by ten votes and will face incumbent Dahlia Vertreese in the December 2 election.
Hyatt finished in second place with 2,106 votes, with Council President Craig Epps at 2,096. Vertreese was the top vote-getter with 2,426. After uncounted vote-by-mail ballots and provisionals were tallied, Vertreese picked up 43 votes, Hyatt gained 28, and Epps added 43.
Three at-large township council seats are also headed to a runoff between candidates who ran with Vertreese and Epps; Hyatt’s running mates did not qualify.
Incumbent Robert Rios (2,085), Josianne Payoute (2,032), and Sonya McBurrows (2,106) ran with Vertreese; incumbent Lisa Bonanno (1,998), Calvin Lofton (2,091), and Armando DaSilva (2,029) ran with Epps. Marjorie Hargave (1,970) and George Cook (1,903) ran with Hyatt.
Hyatt is a councilwoman from the 1st ward.
In total, 63% of Hillside’s electorate voted against Vertreese in last week’s election. Epps voters are largely expected to go to Hyatt, especially if a unity ticket between Hyatt and Epps’ council candidates emerges.
In a special election for the 2nd ward council seat, interim incumbent Angela Garretson defeated Stephen Wilson by sixteen votes, 568-552. Garretson, a former mayor and Union County Commissioner, was appointed in January and ran with Epps; Wilson ran with Vertreese.
