PATERSON – Vying for the mayoralty here for the third time, shoe leather local legislator turned establishment darling Ward 6 Councilman Andre Sayegh tonight finally won, turning back a splintered two-headed challenge by Alex Mendez and Pedro Rodriguez.

A Lebanese-Syrian American college professor with a proclivity for turning a phrase, Sayegh first won his ward seat in 2008, and ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2010 and 2014.

Tonight, his victory signified the success of a coalition forged across ethnic lines, the gist of which featured Arabs, African Americans, Latinos and Bengalis.

Critically, Sayegh won by a 1,600-vote margin in South Paterson.

But he did well across the seat and at 8:50 held a 3K margin of victory with just 14 districts remaining.

For the council seats, incumbent Maritza Davila, Lilissa Mimms, and Flavio Rivera appear headed for the council wins.

UNOFFICIAL TOTALS (MAYOR):

Alex MENDEZ 4,599 21.44%

Andre SAYEGH 8,835 41.19%

Pedro RODRIGUEZ 3,559 16.59%

Alex CRUZ 875 4.08%

Michael JACKSON 1,003 4.68%

William ‘Bill’ McKOY 2,546 11.87%

Write-In 32 0.15%

Total … 21,449 100.00%

Paterson Council-At-Large

Zellie THOMAS 2,753 6.89%

Douglas L. MAVEN 1,604 4.01%

Lilisa MIMMS 4,823 12.06%

Maritza DAVILA 5,277 13.20%

Mohammed AKHTARUZZAMAN 3,979 9.95%

Bernard JONES 2,169 5.43%

Kenneth McDANIEL 3,411 8.53%

Casey C. MELVIN 1,621 4.05%

Flavio RIVERA 4,387 10.97%

Aslon GOOW, Sr. 3,098 7.75%

Juan Mitch SANTIAGO 3,212 8.03%

Fatima BELL 1,373 3.43%

Angela MUHAMMAD 1,052 2.63%

Davon ROBERTS 1,105 2.76%

Write-In 117 0.29%
Total … 39,981 100.00%