Mike Silva tonight in a special runoff election defeated Anthony Campos in the East Ward.

His victory means Silva will succeed retiring Councilman Augusto Amador.

The vote, unofficially:

The Ironbound trinity of faith, family and friends buttress the life and candidacy of retired Community Service Detective Silva, the proud native son of Portuguese immigrants and father of a 14-year old boy, who after a 28-year-career in the Newark PD offers his experience and neighborhood-based commitment to people as a candidate for the City council in the East Ward.

“It honestly took me a little time to come to this point,” Silva told InsiderNJ in a restaurant down the block from where he grew up with his brother on a second floor apartment on Elm Street, when he first launched his candidacy. “I don’t have all the answers. I know how dirty politics can be. Maybe being too honest is a flaw, but at the end of the day I care about his community.”

In a contest for the seat now occupied by retiring Councilman Augusto Amador, Silva faced two other retired police officers who want the job; but only he had the backing of Amador, and only he had a wholly Ironbound-stationed police service record.

Former Police Chief Anthony Campos was good at what he did, and former Detective Louis Weber was good at what he did, the candidate said. But “I was more entrenched in the everyday concerns of this community,” explained Silva, who spent nearly 30 years handling citizens’ concerns, and the public safety challenges of the East Ward. “I served three administrations and numerous police directors and no one ever moved me [from the East],” he noted. “Those individuals had their specific jobs. My job was to make sure people felt safe walking out of their homes. That’s what I did as the community service detective here. That position and that role led me to this moment. People told me wherever I went that I knew their concerns, answering the phone when people call.” His routine duties included focusing on residents in the neighborhood housing complexes, the homeless, and the vulnerable; making sure an at-risk family had a Thanksgiving meal, or a poor child had a toy at Christmastime.

A lymphoma survivor, single father Silva, 53, has about 20-30 relatives who still live and work in this part of Newark where he grew up and now raises his son.

Ultimately, in his showdown with Campos today in their special runoff, Silva won.