Two Dominicans in NJ election

[NewsWhore]

In Passaic, New Jersey, a special election is being held to fill the vacancy for mayor. Five candidates are running for the seat, including two Dominicans. Passaic is a non-partisan city, meaning that by law, the candidates do not run under a party political banner, but under their own slate. However, party affiliation may play a role in this election. Democrat Dr. Alex D. Blanco and Republican Jose M. Sandoval are the two Dominicans running in the five-man race. If one of them is elected as mayor, it would be a first for a Dominican in US history. According to the Dominican-American National Roundtable (DANR) in Washington, DC, no Dominican has ever been elected as mayor in the US, however in September 2001, Marcos Devers of Lawrence, Massachusetts was appointed to fill a vacancy as acting mayor, thus becoming the first Dominican in US history to serve as mayor. Devers later ran for mayor but lost the election. In Passaic, NJ (where an estimated 15% of the population is Dominican), there is no run-off election, which means that the top winner becomes the mayor of Passaic. This could be potentially challenging for both Blanco and Sandoval because of the risk of having the Dominican vote split between them. The candidates are running to fill the seat vacated by former mayor Samuel "Sammy" Rivera who was convicted of accepting bribes and attempted extortion. He subsequently resigned from his seat on 9 May 2008. Election day in the US is Tuesday, 4 November.
See: www.politickernj.com/max/25061/... (http://www.politickernj.com/max/25061/sandoval-gains-traction-endorsement-while-veteran-capuana-goes-his-base) and www.politickernj.com/max/24603/... (http://www.politickernj.com/max/24603/tough-political-landscape-schaer-bets-blanco-and-lucianin)

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