Corey Teague, activist in Jameek Lowery case, leads Paterson's school board voting
PATERSON — Activist Corey Teague, who has spoken out on issues ranging from problems in the special education program to allegations of excessive force by city cops, stands as the top vote-getter in Paterson's school board election.
Vincent Arrington, who served on the Board of Education for one year as an appointee, and incumbent Emanuel Capers have the lead for the other two seats up for election, based on unofficial and incomplete returns.
Capers has a 115-vote lead over the fourth-place finisher, Dania Martinez, but not all the ballots have been counted. Officials said they have additional vote-by-mail and provisional ballots to add to the totals.
Last November, Arrington and his running mate, Eddy Pichardo, were ahead based on the Election Day vote tallies. But they ended up losing their bids for one-year school board seats after post-Election Day mail-in votes and provisional ballots were counted.
“After what happened last year, I’m not giving up until all the numbers are in,” said incumbent Robinson Rondon, who defeated Arrington and Pichardo in last year’s race based on votes counted after Election Day but currently is fifth in the voting this year.
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New Jersey law requires that all mail-in ballots postmarked on Election Day be counted as long as they arrive at election offices within 48 hours, officials said. Provisional ballots are those filled out by people whose voter registration is in question. Over the next couple of weeks, election staff workers will review the provisional ballots and decide whether they should be counted or discarded, officials said.
Where the vote stands
At present, Teague has 3,838 votes, Arrington 3,586, and Capers 3,335. Martinez has 3,220, Rondon 2,953, Jeyss Abreu 2,276, and Iris Rigo 2,038.
“I believe people were looking for an independent voice,” Teague said, adding that he is not satisfied with the performance of the current school board.
Teague seems on track to end a three-election losing streak. He won his first school board race in 2012 campaigning on special education issues, including the impact the problems were having on his own children. But then he lost his reelection bid in 2015, as well as two subsequent runs for the school board in 2016 and 2018. He cited a change in strategy as part of his success this year.
“In the past, I tried to do it all by myself,” said Teague, who organized protest rallies last winter over the controversial death of Jameek Lowery while in police custody. “This year, I had a team helping me.”
Among those Teague mentioned as helping his campaign were Councilwoman Lilisa Mimms and Matt McKoy, the son of Councilman William McKoy.
Arrington, meanwhile, said he gained support from voters who were impressed by the way he handled last year's defeat. “They appreciated how I didn’t just give up after that,” said Arrington, who continued regularly attending school board meetings after he was voted out of office.
Arrington received endorsements from Mayor Andre Sayegh and Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly. Capers also had Sayegh’s backing, but not Wimberly’s.
The two men said the endorsements came with no strings attached.
Capers, who has been outspoken as a board member on the district’s busing problems, said he sees himself as an independent voice much like Teague.
“We don’t need people on the board who are pushing a political agenda,” Capers said. “We need people who are going to push a kids’ agenda.”
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