Unofficial election-night results show Susan Poage leading the race for Berkeley Heights mayor, while incumbents Bill Machado and Margaret Illis are ahead in the two-seat Township Council contest. Poage, the Democratic council vice president, picked up 3,338 votes, or 51.28 percent, putting her 539 votes ahead of Republican council president John Foster, who received 2,799 votes, or 43 percent.
The mayoral race also included George deLuna, who drew 352 votes, or 5.41 percent, with 20 write-in votes cast in the contest, according to TAPinto. Current Mayor Angela Devanney did not seek a third term, and whoever ultimately wins the seat is set to take office in January 2027. Union County's own election results page lists the Nov. 3 tallies as unofficial, a designation that applies to every race on the ballot this cycle, per unioncountyvotes.com.
Council Incumbents Hold Onto Their Seats
In the Township Council race, which had two three-year seats up for election, Machado led with 3,879 votes, or 30.64 percent, while fellow Democratic incumbent Illis followed with 3,707 votes, or 29.28 percent. The contest also drew 17 write-in votes, the report notes.
Trailing behind the two incumbents were Republican challengers James Daoulabani and Edmund Tom Maciejewski. Illis led Daoulabani by 1,141 votes; Daoulabani received 2,566 votes, or 20.27 percent, while Maciejewski took in 2,491 votes, or 19.68 percent, the same account states.
School Board Seat Goes to Moore
The Board of Education race was not particularly close. David Moore received 4,126 votes, or 85.90 percent, with write-ins accounting for the remaining 677 votes, or 14.10 percent of the total, the outlet's tally shows.
Election-night results did not identify the names behind those write-in totals, so it remains unclear how those votes were distributed across the mayoral, council, and school board contests. The results released on election night are still unofficial, and the local report indicated it would be updated as additional figures come in.
