HILLSIDE – They used to be fond of each other, but somewhere and somehow within the caldron of New Jersey politics, they ended up on opposing sides and now seemed to relish their rivalry.

Hillside Democratic Chair Anthony Salters wanted Dahlia Vertreese to win tonight, and would take that much more pleasure in sawing through a candidate backed by Pablo Fonseca.

For his part, Fonseca was all smiles at Jorge Batista headquarters this evening, sporting a Cory Booker for Mayor 2010 fleece from his campaign managing days in the earlier iteration of the sitting junior senator.

When Batista went to Fonseca and told him he planned to run for mayor of Hillside in 2017, he insisted that Fonseca run the operation – otherwise he wouldn’t run.

Fonseca went in, and that irked Salters.

Again, they had been friends.

Now they were on opposing sides – and all in.

One big question lingered.

Both campaigns had scheduled victory parties in the New Blue Ribbon Restaurant on Hollywood Avenue. Batista’s was set for the second floor, Vertreese’s for the first. Salters, it is said, extended an olive branch to the rival campaign, suggesting that they celebrate together when the polls closed tonight, and that the loser make the trek either up or down to congratulate and get behind the winner.

Who was going to make that humbling trip, and which operative would have to extend a whipped hand to his conqueror?