Presumptive Winners Of Wayne School Board Election Speak

WAYNE, NJ — Two current trustees won re-election to the Wayne Township School Board of Election and there will be a new member in January, unofficial election results show.

Voters across the state turned out Tuesday night in a major election year, making decisions in local and county races as well as major races for Congress and the White House. In Wayne there were three school board seats on the ballot, along with county races for sheriff and commissioner.

Ryan Paul and Harry Prassakos have both retained their seats, and Wilson Alequin will be the newest member of the board having received the third-most amount of votes. All three provided statements on their victories to Patch, which you may read below.

Here are the latest tallies for the Wayne Township School Board election from the Passaic County Clerk's Office.

100 percent of machine votes reported; mail-in ballots and provisional ballots still being counted.

Wayne Township Schools Board of Education (voters could choose 3)

• Ryan Paul (Incumbent): 12,733
• Wilson Alequin: 11,085
• Haralampos "Harry" Prassakos (Incumbent): 9,601
• Ehab "Ahab" Husein: 7,031

All results are unofficial until the county clerk verifies them.

Below are the winning candidates' statements on their victories and what they are looking forward to in 2025 and beyond.

Wilson Alequin:

"I want to thank every single member of the Wayne community who made the decision to trust me with a seat on the Wayne Twp Board of Education. I want them to know that I’m in this for you, for your children, your grandchildren, and for the community as a whole. Your support has been absolutely amazing and I look forward in getting to work and also gaining the trust of the rest of the community whose vote I was unable to earn this time around. Thank you again."

Ryan Paul:

"I would like to thank everyone who voted for me and supported me throughout the election process. I am honored to be given the opportunity to continue to serve on the Wayne Board of Education and I look forward to working with the rest of the board members and our administration to overcome the challenges we face to continue to provide one of the best school districts in our state to the residents of Wayne."

Harry Prassakos:

"I would like to thank everyone that took the time to look at the bottom of the ballot and cast their vote for me and the other Board of Ed candidates. I want to congratulate all the other candidates for deciding to run in this year’s Wayne BOE election. I am excited that Wayne’s voters have given me the opportunity to continue my community service to the District. I think 2025 will be a great year of continuous improvement that will bring Wayne closer to being the top school district in New Jersey."

Overall, Passaic County reported a turnout of 56.92 percent. According to the most recent unofficial results, 59,106 people voted early in-person, 192,365 voted by mail, and 23,483 cast their votes in-person on Tuesday.

Tuesday was a busy Election Day, and more than 4 million New Jersey residents cast their vote for President; final tallies were still being calculated early Wednesday afternoon.

Current Vice President Kamala Harris conceded to President-elect Donald Trump, who has won a second non-consecutive term in the White House, around 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

Harris won New Jersey by 177,150 votes and 4 percentage points according to the most recent results — a much smaller margin against Trump than in 2020, when Biden won the state by 16 percentage points; or in 2016, when Hillary Clinton won by 14 percentage points.

Other election coverage:

• Adamo To Be Next Passaic County Sheriff, Unofficial Results Show
• Bashaw Concedes NJ Senate Race To Andy Kim
• 5 NJ Counties Flip Red In Trump Vs. Harris Race: See Breakdown