Editing Totowa, New Jersey (section)

== Government ==

===Local government===
[[File:Totowa, NJ borough hall, Dec. 2024.jpg|thumb|right|Totowa Municipal Building]]
Totowa is governed under the [[Borough (New Jersey)|borough]] form of New Jersey municipal government, which is used in 218 municipalities (of the 564) statewide, making it the most common form of government in New Jersey.<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 a mayor and a borough council, with all positions elected [[at-large]] on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. A mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The borough council includes six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year in a three-year cycle.<ref name=DataBook>''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'', [[Rutgers University]] [[Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy]], March 2013, p. 151.</ref> The borough form of government is a "[[weak mayor]] / strong council" government in which council members act as the legislative body with the mayor presiding at meetings and voting only in the event of a tie. The mayor can [[veto]] ordinances, subject to an [[veto override|override]] by a two-thirds majority vote of the council. The mayor makes committee and liaison assignments for council members, and most appointments are made by the mayor with the council's advice and consent.<ref>Cerra, Michael F. [http://www.njslom.org/magart0307_p14.html "Forms of Government: Everything You've Always Wanted to Know, But Were Afraid to Ask"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924045019/http://www.njslom.org/magart0307_p14.html |date=September 24, 2014 }}, [[New Jersey State League of Municipalities]]. Accessed November 30, 2014.</ref><ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/forms_of_municipal_government_in_new_jersey_9220.pdf#page=6 "Forms of Municipal Government in New Jersey"], p. 6. [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref>

{{As of|2024}}, the mayor of Totowa is [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] John Coiro, whose term of office ends December 31, 2026. Members of the Totowa Borough Council are Council President Lou D'Angelo (R, 2025), William Bucher Jr. (R, 2026), John F. Capo (R, 2025), Patrick Fierro (R, 2024) and Anthony L. Picarelli (R, 2024) and Sanders Reynoso (R, 2026).<ref name=Officials>[https://www.totowanj.org/officials Town Officials], Borough of Totowa. Accessed February 18, 2024.</ref><ref>[https://www.totowanj.org/_files/ugd/3cc0e2_068698b7d06441be9e1bb20a6d0ad8b3.pdf 2023 Municipal Data Sheet], Borough of Totowa. Accessed February 18, 2024.</ref><ref name=PassaicDirectory>[https://www.passaiccountynj.org/home/showpublisheddocument/6854/638289180350200000#page=77 ''Passaic County 2023 Directory''], [[Passaic County, New Jersey]]. Accessed February 18, 2024.</ref><ref name=Passaic2023>[https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Passaic/118633/web.317647/#/summary 2023 General Election November 7, 2023 Official Results], [[Passaic County, New Jersey]], November 29, 2023. Accessed January 1, 2024.</ref><ref name=Passaic2022>[https://www.passaiccountynj.org/home/showpublisheddocument/6026/638060192685700000 2022 General Election November 8, 2022 Summary Report Passaic County Official Results], [[Passaic County, New Jersey]], updated December 7, 2022. Accessed January 1, 2023.</ref><ref name=Passaic2021>[https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Passaic/111517/web.278093/#/summary 2021 General Election November 2, 2021 Official Results], Passaic County, New Jersey, updated November 18, 2021. Accessed January 1, 2022.</ref>

Councilmember John Waryas resigned from office in June 2014, citing personal issues.<ref>Kadosh, Matthew. [http://www.northjersey.com/news/six-term-totowa-councilman-steps-down-cites-personal-reasons-1.1034666 "Six-term Totowa councilman steps down, cites personal reasons"], ''Passaic Valley Today'', June 12, 2014. Accessed August 16, 2015. "John Waryas resigned from the council this week after serving on the council for 15 years. He cited personal reasons for leaving and was praised by his fellow council members at this week's council meeting."</ref> That month, the borough council selected Brendan Murphy from three candidates nominated by the Republican municipal committee to fill Waryas' vacant seat on an interim basis.<ref>Kadosh, Matthew. [http://www.northjersey.com/news/accountant-with-deep-republican-ties-chosen-to-fill-vacant-totowa-council-seat-1.1041045 "Accountant with deep Republican ties chosen to fill vacant Totowa council seat"], ''Passaic Valley Today'', June 25, 2014. Accessed August 16, 2015. "Brendan Murphy, who is the son of Peter Murphy, chairman of the Totowa Borough Republican Club, was chosen on Tuesday night to fill seat left vacant by Councilman John Waryas and is set to be sworn into his new position at the July 8 council meeting."</ref> In the November 2014 general election, Phil Puglise was elected to serve the balance of the term of office.<ref name=Passaic2014>[http://www.passaiccountynj.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/337 November 4, 2014 Summary Report Passaic County Official Results] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924064843/http://www.passaiccountynj.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/337 |date=September 24, 2015 }}, [[Passaic County, New Jersey]], updated November 12, 2014. Accessed July 28, 2016.</ref>

=== Federal, state and county representation ===
Totowa is located in the 11th 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 40th state legislative district.<ref name=Districts2023>[https://pub.njleg.gov/publications/pdf/2023-NJ-Leg-District-Map.pdf Municipalities Sorted by 2023-2031 Legislative District], [[New Jersey Department of State]]. Accessed September 1, 2023.</ref>

{{NJ Congress 11}} {{NJ Senate}}

{{NJ Legislative 40}}

{{NJ Passaic County Commissioners}}

===Politics===
As of March 2011, there were a total of 6,950 registered voters in Totowa, of which 1,355 (19.5% vs. 31.0% countywide) were registered as [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]], 2,562 (36.9% vs. 18.7%) were registered as [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] and 3,030 (43.6% vs. 50.3%) were registered as [[Unaffiliated (New Jersey)|Unaffiliated]]. There were 3 voters registered as [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarians]] or [[Green Party (United States)|Greens]].<ref name=VoterRegistration>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2011-passaic-co-summary-report.pdf Voter Registration Summary - Passaic], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, March 23, 2011. Accessed January 16, 2013.</ref> Among the borough's 2010 Census population, 64.3% (vs. 53.2% in Passaic County) were registered to vote, including 80.5% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 70.8% countywide).<ref name=VoterRegistration/><ref>[https://www.census.gov GCT-P7: Selected Age Groups: 2010 - State &ndash; County Subdivision; 2010 Census Summary File 1 for New Jersey], [[United States Census Bureau]]. Accessed January 16, 2013.</ref>

In the [[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2012|2012 presidential election]], Republican [[Mitt Romney]] received 57.2% of the vote (2,834 cast), ahead of Democrat [[Barack Obama]] with 42.1% (2,083 votes), and other candidates with 0.7% (35 votes), among the 5,004 ballots cast by the borough's 7,265 registered voters (52 ballots were [[Spoilt vote|spoiled]]), for a turnout of 68.9%.<ref name=2012Elections>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2012-results/2012-presidential-passaic.pdf |title=Presidential General Election Results - November 6, 2012 - Passaic County |date=March 15, 2013 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref><ref name=2012VoterReg>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2012-results/2012-ballotscast-passaic.pdf |title=Number of Registered Voters and Ballots Cast - November 6, 2012 - General Election Results - Passaic County|date=March 15, 2013 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref> In the [[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2008|2008 presidential election]], Republican [[John McCain]] received 3,118 votes (58.0% vs. 37.7% countywide), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 2,026 votes (37.7% vs. 58.8%) and other candidates with 63 votes (1.2% vs. 0.8%), among the 5,375 ballots cast by the borough's 7,013 registered voters, for a turnout of 76.6% (vs. 70.4% in Passaic County).<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2008-gen-elect-presidential-results-passaic.pdf 2008 Presidential General Election Results: Passaic County], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 23, 2008. Accessed January 16, 2013.</ref> In the [[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2004|2004 presidential election]], Republican [[George W. Bush]] received 2,981 votes (57.1% vs. 42.7% countywide), ahead of Democrat [[John Kerry]] with 2,029 votes (38.8% vs. 53.9%) and other candidates with 24 votes (0.5% vs. 0.7%), among the 5,224 ballots cast by the borough's 6,686 registered voters, for a turnout of 78.1% (vs. 69.3% in the whole county).<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2004-presidential_passaic_co_2004.pdf 2004 Presidential Election: Passaic County], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 13, 2004. Accessed January 16, 2013.</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; font-size:95%;"
|+ Presidential elections results
|- bgcolor=lightgrey
! Year
![[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
![[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
![[Third Party (United States)|Third Parties]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''[[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-passaic.pdf|title=Presidential November 5, 2024 General Election Results Passaic County|access-date=January 11, 2025}}</ref>'''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''64.7%''' ''3,970''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|31.4% ''1,927''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |3.9% ''136''
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''[[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-passaic.pdf|title=Presidential November 3, 2020 General Election Results Passaic County|access-date=January 11, 2025}}</ref>'''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''58.6%''' ''3,804''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|39.3% ''2,553''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |2.1% ''59''
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''[[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2016|2016]]<ref name="2016Elections">{{cite web |url=https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/2016/2016-gen-elect-presidential-results-passaic.pdf|title=Presidential General Election Results – November 8, 2016 – Passaic County|publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections|access-date=December 31, 2017}}</ref>'''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''61.0%''' ''3,323''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|36.1% ''1,966''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |2.5% ''136''
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''[[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2012|2012]]<ref name="2012Election">{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2012-results/2012-presidential-passaic.pdf |title=Presidential General Election Results - November 6, 2012 - Passaic County |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=January 11, 2025}}</ref>'''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''57.2%''' ''2,834''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|42.1% ''2,083''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |0.7% ''35''
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''[[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2008|2008]]<ref name="state.nj.us">[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2008-gen-elect-presidential-results-passaic.pdf 2008 Presidential General Election Results: Passaic County], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 23, 2008. Accessed January 11, 2025.</ref>'''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''58.0%''' ''3,118''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|37.7% ''2,026''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |1.2% ''63''
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''[[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2004|2004]]'''<ref name="Presidential Election 2004">[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2004-presidential_passaic_co_2004.pdf 2004 Presidential Election: Passaic County], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 13, 2004. Accessed January 11, 2025.</ref>
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''57.1%''' ''2,981''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|38.8% ''2,029''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |0.5% ''24''
|}

In the [[New Jersey gubernatorial election, 2013|2013 gubernatorial election]], Republican [[Chris Christie]] received 68.2% of the vote (2,201 cast), ahead of Democrat [[Barbara Buono]] with 31.3% (1,009 votes), and other candidates with 0.5% (15 votes), among the 3,338 ballots cast by the borough's 7,323 registered voters (113 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 45.6%.<ref name=2013Elections>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2013-results/2013-general-election-results-governor-passaic.pdf |title=Governor - Passaic County |date=January 29, 2014 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref><ref name=2013VoterReg>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2013-results/2013-general-election-ballotscast-passaic.pdf |title=Number of Registered Voters and Ballots Cast - November 5, 2013 - General Election Results - Passaic County|date=January 29, 2014 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref> In the [[New Jersey gubernatorial election, 2009|2009 gubernatorial election]], Republican Chris Christie received 2,299 votes (60.3% vs. 43.2% countywide), ahead of Democrat [[Jon Corzine]] with 1,236 votes (32.4% vs. 50.8%), Independent [[Chris Daggett]] with 142 votes (3.7% vs. 3.8%) and other candidates with 29 votes (0.8% vs. 0.9%), among the 3,811 ballots cast by the borough's 6,967 registered voters, yielding a 54.7% turnout (vs. 42.7% in the county).<ref>[http://www.njelections.org/election-results/2009-governor_results-passaic.pdf 2009 Governor: Passaic County] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822213732/http://www.njelections.org/election-results/2009-governor_results-passaic.pdf |date=August 22, 2012 }}, [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 31, 2009. Accessed January 16, 2013.</ref>