Teaneck voters don't pick their mayor directly — they elect members of the Township Council, who then choose one of their own to hold the title. That quirk of local government is suddenly very relevant after unofficial results from the November 3 election pointed toward three newcomers winning seats on the seven-member council, setting up a January reorganization meeting that could decide whether Mark Schwartz keeps the mayor's chair he's held since 2025.
Nine Candidates, Four Seats, One Big Question
The race drew nine candidates competing for four open council seats, according to Daily Voice. Bergen County's unofficial tallies, as cited by the outlet, show George Fernandez Jr. leading the field with 7,194 votes, followed by Denise Belcher with 7,163, Duane Harley with 6,775, and Avi Berliner with 6,550 — enough, per those same unofficial figures, to put Fernandez, Belcher, Harley and Berliner on track to fill the four available seats. Trailing candidates included Sharon Kolb with 6,418 votes, Amrit Ramjattan with 6,236, Hillary Goldberg with 3,743, Crystal Pressley with 1,962 and Howard Rose with 1,937, the outlet reported. Berliner's total topped Kolb's by 132 votes, a margin that effectively decided the fourth seat, per Daily Voice's tally.
If those unofficial numbers hold, Fernandez would be poised to replace Danielle Gee on the council, Harley would be positioned to succeed Elie Katz, and Berliner would be in line to take the seat currently held by Hillary Goldberg, according to Daily Voice. Belcher, meanwhile, appears positioned to retain the seat she already holds, per the unofficial results. Teaneck's own election notice points residents to the Bergen County Clerk's office for the unofficial tally, and Daily Voice noted in an editor's note that the results remain subject to certification, which the outlet reported is expected by December 3.
How Teaneck Actually Picks Its Mayor
Whatever the final vote count shows, it won't determine who becomes mayor — that's a separate decision made entirely by the council itself. Teaneck's municipal code spells out that the council is comprised of seven members elected at large, one of whom shall be elected by the council as mayor, according to the Township of Teaneck's code. That same code lays out that after a general election, the council must assemble to organize itself and elect one of its number as mayor, with the position carrying a two-year term that runs until a successor is chosen at the next organizational meeting. Council members elected in November don't take office immediately, either — their terms commence at noon on the following January 1, per the code.
Teaneck's own election FAQ, run by Teaneck Today, reinforces that the newly constituted council appears on a day in the first week of January to reorganize after each council election. Notably, the FAQ makes clear that finishing first doesn't guarantee the mayor's gavel: asked whether the highest vote recipient becomes mayor, the answer given is “Not necessarily.”
Schwartz Isn't Going Anywhere — But His Title Might
Mark Schwartz wasn't on the November 3 ballot at all, since he currently holds a council term that runs through December 2028, according to Daily Voice. That means Schwartz will remain on the council no matter what happens at the reorganization meeting — the only open question, per the outlet, is whether his colleagues vote to keep him as mayor or hand the title to someone else. Daily Voice reported that the newly seated council will be the body that makes that call.
History suggests the outcome is far from guaranteed. In January 2025, Schwartz — then a four-term council member — was unanimously named mayor by his colleagues at that year's reorganization meeting, according to NorthJersey.com. But two years earlier, in January 2023, the council had gone a different direction, naming Michael Pagan as its first Latino mayor and bypassing Schwartz, then a three-term councilman and deputy mayor, for the job, NorthJersey.com reported at the time. With three new faces potentially joining the table come January, Teaneck's reorganization meeting — and the mayor's seat — is once again up for grabs.
