The incumbent is now ahead by 7 votes in the Trenton City Council runoff election

Trenton South Ward Councilwoman Jenna Figueroa Kettenburg leads by just seven votes after Tuesday’s runoff election against challenger Damian Malave.

Kettenburg is ahead, 357-350, a margin of 50.5% to 49.5%.

Voter turnout was a weak 9%. Trenton opted out of early voting for the runoff election that would have taken place on

The Mercer County Board of Elections is not expected to count any additional ballots until Dec. 10 at 4 p.m. There are nineteen provisional ballots remaining to be processed and possibly counted, and late-arriving mail-in ballots must be postmarked by 8:00 p.m. Last night’s mail will be accepted until close of business on December 9th. Additionally, there are three outstanding cure letters where voters can resolve a technical flaw on their VBM ballot, such as a mismatched signature.

Last night Kettenburg was 24 votes ahead of Malave. The new count includes an unread voting machine cassette, mail-in ballots that arrived from mailboxes after polls closed, and mail-in ballots that were received late.

If the election ends in a draw, a judge would have to order a new election.

This is the fifth time that Kettenburg and Malave have met since 2018.

In November 2022, Malave Kettenburg led in the November election with 57 votes, 47.8% to 42.4%; Ugorji trailed by 105 votes (9.8%). But Kettenburg prevailed in the December runoff, beating Malave by 40 votes, 324 to 284 (53.3% to 46.7%).

Kettenburg and Malave challenged long-time incumbent George Muschal in 2018. Muschal led Malave 46.3% to 31.1% in the May election, while Kettenburg came third with 22.5%. Muschal won the June runoff with 60.5% in his last term.

In 2022, after Trenton postponed its municipal elections from May to November, a realignment of City Council elections elected three at-large seats to four-year terms and the four district council members to two-year terms. The winners of the 2024 election will receive a four-year term in office.

In Trenton’s North Ward, Jennifer Williams won a 2022 City Council runoff election by one vote, 428 to 427. She won re-election unopposed this year.