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The Trenton city councilwoman has a narrow lead after the runoff election

A runoff election for a City Council seat in Trenton’s South Ward is approaching, with incumbent Jenna Figueroa Kettenburg leading Damian Malave by 24 votes in the fifth matchup between the two since 2018.

In the nonpartisan elections on November 5th, Kettenburg and Malave were tied with 1,044 votes each (46.6%); Evangeline Ugorji came a distant third with 152 votes (6.8%).

After machine and mail-in ballots were counted, Kettenburg was ahead 338 to 314, 51.8% to 48.2%. Nineteen provisional ballots will not be counted until next week – not all of them will necessarily be counted – as will late-arriving mail-in ballots, which will be postmarked by 8 p.m. tonight.

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 her bid for a second term, Kettenburg received the support of Mayor Reed Gusciora, former Mayor Douglas Palmer and three city councilors: Crystal Feliciano, Jasi Edwards and Jennifer Williams.

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