Mayor Andre Sayegh is the presumed victor of the Paterson mayoral race.  At his victory party held at the Brownstone, Sayegh, flanked by his wife Farhanna, Council President Davila, Councilmen Al Abdelaziz and William McKoy, Sheriff Richard Berdnik, and Passaic County Commissioner Pat Lepore, thanked his supporters and the residents who turned out to return him to office.  Abdelaziz hailed the historic nature of the victory, saying that Sayegh was the first mayor in years to be returned to office under normal circumstances, and not from a special election or appointment.

Before taking the stage and standing under a balloon arch in patriotic colors, Sayegh entered the Brownstone banquet hall amid a sea of cheering supporters holding a myriad of international flags representing the diverse communities of New Jersey’s third-largest cities, chanting, “Four more years!”

“We are ‘One Paterson’,” Sayegh said, echoing his campaign slogan. “I am proud to be a Patersonian.  It is the only home I have ever known.  It is where my mother raised me and where my wife and I are raising our three children.  Today was a victory for integrity and credibility.”  Citing the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Sayegh saluted the resilience of the Patersonian people.  “You cannot keep a good city down.”

The mayor said that his first term was establishing the infrastructure for the city’s redevelopment and prosperity, and that his next four years would see that vision through.

As of 11:21 p.m., Passaic County was reporting that Mayor Sayegh had taken 49.55% of the vote in a five-man race.  His closest challenger, as of the time of this writing, was Alex Mendez, his bitter rival, capturing 30.00%.  Former councilman Aslan Goow was a distant third at 9.6%.

Council President Maritza Davila won reelection tonight in Paterson as did her colleague Lilisa Mimms. The third at-large seat – as of 11:30 p.m. – was up for grabs.

The tally right now with one district missing:

Mimms 4,564
Davila 3,702
Uddin 3,188
Melvin 3,023