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BELLEVILLE, NJ — With most of the dust settled from the 2023 general election, it appears that the Belleville Board of Education has two new members: Lissa Missaggia and Brenda Pacheco.
New Jersey voters cast ballots in races across the state on Tuesday, including a school board contest in Belleville. Seven candidates ran for two open seats on the board.
With 96.15 percent of Belleville voting districts reported as of Friday, Missaggia and Pacheco have significant leads over their challengers, with Missaggia at 1,171 votes and Pacheco at 1,116 votes. The next-highest total is Esteban Leon, who stood at 961 votes.
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Although the results are still uncertified, the gap was large enough for Missaggia to declare victory in a social media post on Thursday. She wrote:
“After more results have been tabulated, it’s clear that we did it—and I cannot be more thankful to all of you. To my family, thank you for always standing by my side these last few years. Time-and-time-again, you always supported me in my endeavors to serve on the Board and advocate for Belleville’s children. John, John J., Dennis, Lisa, Cousin Laura, Uncle Jerry, Cousin Jerry: I could never have done this without you. Thank you.”
Missaggia continued:
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“To my friends and supporters, thank you for allowing me this opportunity to serve our community. I promise to deliver on my commitment to represent every Belleville family on the Board of Education, and to always put the interests of our children before anything else. I look forward to working with the current Trustees and Dr. Tomko when I am sworn into office in January. I have a tremendous amount of respect for every one of them, and I’d also like to congratulate Brenda Pacheco on her victory. I cannot wait for us all to work together in moving our school district forward. Thank you again, and together let’s put kids first!”
Want to know more about her platform? Read Patch’s candidate profile with Missaggia here.
Meanwhile, Leon – who ran alongside Pacheco on the Better Belleville slate – issued the following social media message on Tuesday night:
“Looks like I came up short tonight on Election Day but my running mate, Brenda Pacheco, will be in and I am happy for her. I want to thank everyone that helped me during this campaign, I am truly grateful for your help. Thank you to all the residents who took the time to speak to me over the last two months and actually took the time to know me. I have no regrets, I know where my heart stood, and know I gave it my best effort. It’s not the result I wanted but I will stay positive and say it was a good 1st showing for the new guy in town. Before I sign out, I want to thank my wife for standing by my side during this entire process and since the very day we met. I wouldn’t have been able to reach the finish line without her.”
Want to know more about her platform? Read Patch’s candidate profile with Pacheco here.
Pacheco also got a congratulatory message from Mayor Michael Melham, who commended all of the candidates for throwing their hats into the ring this election season.
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