Former Orange At-Large Councilman Donald Page has died.

Mr. Page defined himself as a local anti-establishment personage who bucked Mayor Mims Hackett and challenged Dick Codey in an unsuccessful 2001 Democratic Primary candidacy for state senate.

In 2008, after Hackett imploded on corruption charges, Mr. Page undertook a run for mayor.

In one of the more competitive and dynamic contests in recent Orange political history, Mr. Page narrowly lost his bid for mayor to Eldridge Hawkins, Jr.

Many people ran for citywide that year, including Councilwoman Tency Eason and educator Janice Morrell. In part sparked by the national campaign season (Hillary Clinton versus Barack Obama), and eager to supply the town with a burst of energy, they participated in numerous civic organization-sponsored debate forums throughout the Essex County town.

In the end, the contest came down to Hawkins versus Page, with the former defeating the latter’s upstart grassroots organization, in part on the strength of Hawkins’ senior citizen support in the public housing.

In what was perhaps the defining moment of his political career, Mr. Page ran a transparent, competitive, and wholly dignified and coherent campaign, presenting himself as the alternative to the machine that had backed Hackett. It wasn’t enough in the end against a younger, talented and well-connected rival in Hawkins, a police officer by trade and son of a former Assemblyman. But the campaign embodied a specific and enduring Orange vitality, best marked by Mr. Page – an impeccable dresser – insisting on rising to his feet while making his impassioned closing statement during a debate in the valley.

Mr. Page died after battling health issues for several years, a longtime friend and political ally of his told InsiderNJ. Mourned by family and friends, an inspiration to those in Essex County who craved a local upstart champion and valued his independent presence on the council, who put himself out there against the odds, he will be missed.