Sources are prepared to absorb news later this month that the man with his own El Greco-style portrait in the Ironbound – East Ward Councilman Augusto Amador – won’t run again.

It’s not a done deal, but presumably close, according to one source.

Another source said it’s over.

At the very least, the allies of veteran Amador have muttered for some time now that they understood his last race would be in 2018, when he eked out an exhausting win over former Police Chief Anthony Campos.

Ahead of 2022, more than just rumblings in the East Ward include political preparations for a final stand-down by Amador.

A source with knowledge of the goings-on told InsiderNJ that Amador might be tempted to urge support from the Est Ward Democratic Committee – and presumably allies of incumbent Mayor Ras Baraka – to replace him with Michael Silva, recently retired community service officer in the East Ward for the Newark Police Department.

But Campos, a tough out four years ago by any standard, who forced Amador into a brutal runoff election, would have to be the favorite.

In an ugly, personal and ruinous contest, Amador clung to his seat over Campos in 2018 with an 1,824 to 1,741 win.

Both men left the field embittered and angered by what each had forced the other to endure.

So it’s not a done deal that Campos would run on a ticket with Mayor Baraka (in fact far from it, one source insisted, noting that others in the Baraka camp and in the North Ward have issues with the former police chief) but it could turn out that way. He has his admirers in the Baraka camp. Anyway that’s the rub here, if Amador tries to more aggressively push for pal Silva, in part to block rival Campos. He might not have to push too hard, according to one source. “As long as [North Ward Councilman Anibal Ramos] and Ras make a deal, it won’t be Campos.”

For more on next year’s developing Newark elections, please go here.