Editing Perth Amboy, New Jersey (section)

===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>