Watch as Mikie Sherrill speaks on her transition to NJ governor
Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill speaks during a press conference discussing the transition to governor in Trenton on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025.
TEANECK − Voters ousted first-term Board of Education President Edward Ha, but elected incumbent Clara Williams to her fifth term in a six-candidate race for three seats on Nov. 4.
Williams topped all the candidates with 6,456 votes, followed by Ha’s running mate, newcomer Latisha Garcia Isley-Robinson with 5,887 votes, and Williams’ running mate, newcomer Ana Marte with 5,460 votes.
Ha, seeking his second term, placed fourth with 5,431 votes, followed by newcomers Eddie Laners III with 5,413 votes and running mate Maxine Angel with 5,357 votes.
Vice President Kassandra Reyes, whose term was also up, did not run for reelection.
“I’m honored to stand with my neighbors, to champion our students, our schools, and our shared future,” Williams said in a Nov. 5 statement. “Voters are telling us they want leaders who reflect their community, understand their hopes and challenges, and have the experience to defend public education at a time when federal leaders are threatening to pull back vital resources.”
“I am truly humbled and deeply grateful to the Teaneck community for their trust and support,” Marte said on Nov. 5. “I look forward to working with my fellow board members on behalf of Teaneck’s students, families, teachers, and administrators.”
“Voters are expressing their trust in someone they know and have worked with,” Isley-Robinson said on Nov. 5. “A mom they can relate to, a neighbor in their village who shows up and does the work for all children, no matter what. They are choosing someone who will always step up and get the job done.”
It is not clear what message voters intended to send with their split vote between incumbents and newcomer running mates.
Both Ha and Williams voted to approve the three-year contract renewal for School Superintendent Andre Spencer on Oct. 28 despite a no-confidence vote by the 22-member Teaneck Association of Administrators and Supervisors in one of the board’s most high-profile issues this year. And the board members have not yet taken positions on how much of a staggering $93.3 million in repairs needed for its eight schools they want to put up for a voter referendum.
The township’s 41,500 residents are 43.4% White, 24.2% Hispanic, 19.5% Black and 9.9% Asian. Yet its 3,487 public school students are 39.6% Hispanic, 31.7% Black, 14.9% White, and 9.7% Asian. About 40% of the township’s residents are Jewish, but an estimated 1,353 of its Jewish students are in private religious schools.
