Editing Perth Amboy, New Jersey (section)

==Government==

===Local government===
{{Further|Mayor of Perth Amboy, New Jersey}}
The City of Perth Amboy is governed under the [[Faulkner Act (mayor–council)|Mayor-Council]] system of municipal government under the [[Faulkner Act]]. The city is one of 71 municipalities (of the 564) statewide governed under this form.<ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/inventory_of_municipal_forms_of_government_in_new_jersey.pdf ''Inventory of Municipal Forms of Government in New Jersey''], [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies, July 1, 2011. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref> The governing body is comprised of the Mayor and the City Council, all of whom are elected [[at-large]] on a [[non-partisan democracy|non-partisan]] basis. The city council includes five members, who are elected to four-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either two or three seats coming up for election in alternating even-numbered years. The mayor also serves a four-year term of office, which is up for election the same year that two council seats are up for vote.<ref name=DataBook>''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'', [[Rutgers University]] [[Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy]], March 2013, p. 87.</ref><ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/forms_of_municipal_government_in_new_jersey_9220.pdf#page=10 "Forms of Municipal Government in New Jersey"], p. 10. [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref> In October 2010, the City Council voted to shift the city's non-partisan elections from May to November, with the first balloting held in conjunction with the General Election in November 2012.<ref>Stirling, Stephen. [https://www.nj.com/news/local/index.ssf/2010/10/perth_amboy_moves_its_non-part.html "Perth Amboy moves its non-partisan city elections to November"], ''[[The Star-Ledger]]'', October 31, 2010. Accessed May 10, 2013. "Perth Amboy's City Council voted 3-1 with 1 abstention to make the change at its Wednesday meeting and will hold its 2012 non-partisan general election in November."</ref>

{{As of|2024}}, the mayor of Perth Amboy is Helmin J. Caba, whose term of office ends December 31, 2024. Caba defeated former three-term mayor Wilda Diaz who had served 12 years in office from 2008 to 2020.<ref name=Mayor>[https://www.perthamboynj.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=11205008&pageId=12069664 Mayor], City of Perth Amboy. Accessed May 28, 2024.</ref> After trailing behind incumbent mayor Wilda Diaz by 33%-30% (a margin of more than 400 votes) in the November 2020 general election, he won the mayoral runoff election against Wilda Diaz on December 15, 2020.<ref>Pizarro, Max. [https://www.insidernj.com/diaz-loses-perth-amboy/ "Diaz Loses in Perth Amboy"], Insider NJ, December 18, 2020. Accessed July 19, 2022. "She and Caba both made the runoff on the strength of their Nov. 3rd performances but Caba eventually beat her in a dogfight: 4,748 to 4,118, with provisional ballots still pending but not enough."</ref> Members of the City Council are Hailey V. Cruz (2026), Rose B. Morales (2024), Kenneth Puccio (2026), Milady Tejeda (2026) and Bienvenido "BJ" Torres (2024).<ref>[https://www.perthamboynj.org/government/city_council City Council], City of Perth Amboy. Accessed May 28, 2024.</ref><ref>[https://cdnsm5-hosted.civiclive.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_11204924/File/Departments/FINANCE/2024/CY2024%20Adopted%20Budget.pdf 2024 Municipal Data Sheet], City of Perth Amboy. Accessed May 28, 2024.</ref><ref name=Middlesex2022>[https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Middlesex/116148/web.307039/#/summary November 8, 2022 General Election Official Results], [[Middlesex County, New Jersey]], updated November 22, 2022. Accessed January 1, 2023.</ref><ref name=Middlesex2020>[https://app.powerbigov.us/view?r=eyJrIjoiODhjZDE4ZGUtZjk2Yy00MTI4LTk4ZjYtMmNkY2Q1ZTJmNjY0IiwidCI6IjhlZjNiNGU0LTBlODgtNDM4Yi1iOWE1LTEwZmVjYmQwYjcxZSJ9 Election Results 2020], [[Middlesex County, New Jersey]], as certified on November 20, 2020. Accessed January 21, 2021.</ref>

In the November 2014 general election, Fernando Gonzalez came in third place, winning the final seat up for election ahead of Sergio Diaz by nine votes. In March 2015, a Superior Court judge ordered a special election between Diaz and Gonzalez after finding that votes had been illegally cast and that there was evidence of fraud in mail voting.<ref>Staff. [http://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/middlesex-county/2015/03/25/perth-amboy-voter-fraud/70461226/ "Special election in Perth Amboy after judge rules voter fraud"], [[MyCentralJersey.com]], March 25, 2015. Accessed April 9, 2015. "A special election will be held for a city council position here after a judge's ruling on Wednesday found voter fraud occurred during the November 2014 election. Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Heidi Currier ordered a new election to be held in 45 to 50 days, as required by law, thereby vacating the election of Fernando Gonzalez. Gonzalez defeated Sergio Diaz by nine votes in November."</ref> In the special election, Gonzalez beat Diaz by a 112-vote margin.<ref>Bichao, Sergio. [http://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/politics/2015/05/12/perth-amboy-election-ends-another-nailbiter/27211719/ "Perth Amboy do-over election ends with mayor's critic winning again"], ''[[Courier News]]'', May 13, 2015. Accessed July 13, 2016. "After a hotly-contested special election Tuesday for a seat on the City Council, voters backed Fernando Gonzalez — the same candidate who had won in November by just nine votes.... Diaz on Tuesday received 1,298 machine votes while Gonzalez received 1,273. But with the mail-in votes, Gonzalez had 1,488 votes to 1,376."</ref>

===Federal, state and county representation===
Perth Amboy is located in the 6th Congressional District<ref name=PCR2012>[https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/2012-congressional-districts/njcd-2011-plan-components-county-mcd.pdf Plan Components Report], [[New Jersey Redistricting Commission]], December 23, 2011. Accessed February 1, 2020.</ref> and is part of New Jersey's 19th state legislative district.<ref name=Districts2011>[https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/2011-legislative-districts/towns-districts.pdf Municipalities Sorted by 2011-2020 Legislative District], [[New Jersey Department of State]]. Accessed February 1, 2020.</ref><ref name=LWV2019>[https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5bae63366fd2b2e5b9f87e5e/5d30f0a94a82c66427e564d2_2019_CitizensGuide.pdf ''2019 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government''], New Jersey [[League of Women Voters]]. Accessed October 30, 2019.</ref><ref>[https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/districts/districtnumbers.asp#19 Districts by Number for 2011-2020], [[New Jersey Legislature]]. Accessed January 6, 2013.</ref>

{{NJ Congress 06}} {{NJ Senate}}

{{NJ Legislative 19}}

{{NJ Middlesex County Commissioners}}

===Politics===
As of March 2011, there were a total of 22,737 registered voters in Perth Amboy, of which 9,212 (40.5%) were registered as [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]], 1,022 (4.5%) were registered as [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] and 12,500 (55.0%) were registered as [[Unaffiliated (New Jersey)|Unaffiliated]]. There were 3 voters registered to either the [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian Party]] or the [[Green Party of the United States|Green Party]].<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2011-middlesex-co-summary-report.pdf Voter Registration Summary - Middlesex] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004215902/http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2011-middlesex-co-summary-report.pdf |date=2013-10-04 }}, [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, March 23, 2011. Accessed November 25, 2012.</ref>

In the [[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2012|2012 presidential election]], Democrat [[Barack Obama]] received 87.0% of the vote (11,774 cast), ahead of Republican [[Mitt Romney]] with 12.3% (1,667 votes), and other candidates with 0.7% (100 votes), among the 13,869 ballots cast by the city's 24,253 registered voters (328 ballots were [[Spoilt vote|spoiled]]), for a turnout of 57.2%.<ref name=2012Elections>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2012-results/2012-presidential-middlesex.pdf |title=Presidential General Election Results - November 6, 2012 - Middlesex County |date=March 15, 2013 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150111233101/http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2012-results/2012-presidential-middlesex.pdf |archive-date=January 11, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=2012VoterReg>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2012-results/2012-ballotscast-middlesex.pdf |title=Number of Registered Voters and Ballots Cast - November 6, 2012 - General Election Results - Middlesex County |date=March 15, 2013 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150111223203/http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2012-results/2012-ballotscast-middlesex.pdf |archive-date=January 11, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the [[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2008|2008 presidential election]], Democrat Barack Obama received 81.6% of the vote (10,999 cast), ahead of Republican [[John McCain]] with 16.8% (2,261 votes) and other candidates with 0.7% (91 votes), among the 13,473 ballots cast by the city's 23,248 registered voters, for a turnout of 58.0%.<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2008-gen-elect-presidential-results-middlesex.pdf 2008 Presidential General Election Results: Middlesex County] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722203923/http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2008-gen-elect-presidential-results-middlesex.pdf |date=2013-07-22 }}, [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 23, 2008. Accessed November 25, 2012.</ref> In the [[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2004|2004 presidential election]], Democrat [[John Kerry]] received 71.0% of the vote (8,677 ballots cast), outpolling Republican [[George W. Bush]] with 27.5% (3,359 votes) and other candidates with 0.4% (79 votes), among the 12,223 ballots cast by the city's 21,686 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 56.4.<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2004-presidential_middlesex_co_2004.pdf 2004 Presidential Election: Middlesex County] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722204150/http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2004-presidential_middlesex_co_2004.pdf |date=2013-07-22 }}, [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 13, 2004. Accessed November 25, 2012.</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; font-size:95%;"
|+ Presidential Elections Results
!Year
![[Republican Party (New Jersey)|Republican]]
![[Democratic Party (New Jersey)|Democratic]]
![[Third Party (United States)|Third Parties]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[2024 United States presidential election in New Jersey|2024]]<ref name="2024Elections">{{cite web|url=https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/2024/2024-official-general-results-president-middlesex.pdf|title=Presidential General Election Results - November 5, 2024 - Middlesex County|publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections|access-date=December 31, 2024}}</ref>'''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|44.5% ''6,209''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''53.3%'''  ''7,430''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |2.2% ''268''
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2020|2020]]<ref name="2020Elections">{{cite web|url=https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/2020/2020-official-general-results-president-middlesex.pdf|title=Presidential General Election Results - November 3, 2020 - Middlesex County|publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections|access-date=December 31, 2020}}</ref>'''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|27.7% ''4,246''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''71.3%'''  ''10,929''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |1.0% ''104''
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2016|2016]]<ref name="2016Elections">{{cite web|url=http://www.nj.gov/state/elections/2016-results/2016-gen-elect-presidential-results-middlesex.pdf|title=Presidential General Election Results - November 8, 2016 - Middlesex County|publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections|access-date=December 31, 2017}}</ref>'''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|16.2% ''2,278''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''81.2%''' ''10,915''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |2.1% ''281''
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2012|2012]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/2012/2012-presidential-middlesex.pdf|title=Presidential General Election Results - November 6, 2012 - Middlesex County|date=March 15, 2013|publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections|access-date=January 9, 2025}}</ref>'''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|12.3% ''1,667''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''87.0%'''  ''11,774''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |0.7% ''100''
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2008|2008]]'''<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2008-gen-elect-presidential-results-middlesex.pdf 2008 Presidential General Election Results: Middlesex County] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722203923/http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2008-gen-elect-presidential-results-middlesex.pdf |date=July 22, 2013}}, [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 23, 2008. Accessed January 9, 2025.</ref>
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|16.8% ''2,261''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''81.6%'''  ''10,999''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |0.7% ''91''
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2004|2004]]'''<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2004-presidential_middlesex_co_2004.pdf 2004 Presidential Election: Middlesex County] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722204150/http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2004-presidential_middlesex_co_2004.pdf |date=July 22, 2013}}, [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 13, 2004. Accessed January 9, 2025.</ref>
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|27.5% ''3,359''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''71.0%'''   ''8,677''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |0.4% ''79''
|-
|}

In the [[2013 New Jersey gubernatorial election|2013 gubernatorial election]], Democrat [[Barbara Buono]] received 63.1% of the vote (3,574 cast), ahead of Republican [[Chris Christie]] with 35.6% (2,014 votes), and other candidates with 1.3% (74 votes), among the 5,915 ballots cast by the city's 24,593 registered voters (253 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 24.1%.<ref name=2013Elections>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2013-results/2013-general-election-results-governor-middlesex.pdf |title=Governor - Middlesex County |date=January 29, 2014 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924134016/http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2013-results/2013-general-election-results-governor-middlesex.pdf |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=2013VoterReg>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2013-results/2013-general-election-ballotscast-middlesex.pdf |title=Number of Registered Voters and Ballots Cast - November 5, 2013 - General Election Results - Middlesex County |date=January 29, 2014 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924133312/http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2013-results/2013-general-election-ballotscast-middlesex.pdf |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the [[2009 New Jersey gubernatorial election|2009 gubernatorial election]], Democrat [[Jon Corzine]] received 69.8% of the vote (4,645 ballots cast), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 24.2% (1,611 votes), Independent [[Chris Daggett]] with 3.4% (228 votes) and other candidates with 0.8% (50 votes), among the 6,654 ballots cast by the city's 22,185 registered voters, yielding a 30.0% turnout.<ref>[http://www.njelections.org/election-results/2009-governor_results-middlesex.pdf 2009 Governor: Middlesex County] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017230558/http://www.njelections.org/election-results/2009-governor_results-middlesex.pdf |date=2012-10-17 }}, [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 31, 2009. Accessed November 25, 2012.</ref>