Belleville’s political landscape shifted dramatically on Tuesday night when 24-year-old Councilman Frank Vélez unseated incumbent Mayor Michael Melham in a race that wasn’t particularly close.
With all districts reporting, Vélez captured 59% of the vote to Melham’s 41%—a 1,037-vote difference that few saw coming against a mayor who had won with 62% of the vote in 2022.
Vélez, who was first elected to the town council in 2024 and ran for state Assembly last year on Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop’s slate, ran a progressive, anti-Trump campaign in a Democratic town that had grown increasingly frustrated with its mayor.
Melham, an Independent, endorsed Republican Jack Ciattarelli in both his 2021 and 2025 gubernatorial campaigns, a move that caused many local Democrats to sour on him—proving costly on Tuesday evening.
The election comes just a week after a warehouse fire devastated Belleville. On Election Day, Melham reportedly wrote to Governor Mikie Sherrill seeking state assistance for recovery purposes.
Vélez’s running mates also prevailed. Council candidates Danyale Wells and Michelle Rodríguez defeated Melham-allied incumbents Naomy De Peña and Yolanda Luna for the two at-large council seats, giving the new mayor an allied governing majority as he heads into office.
Belleville now has a progressive Gen Z mayor in Vélez—and he will have the council majority to enact real change.
The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.