Alex Blanco became the first Dominican-American elected as mayor in the United States when he won a special election in November 2008 to succeed acting mayor Gary Schaer, who, as City Council president automatically moved into this position upon the resignation by previous mayor Samuel Rivera, after Rivera pleaded guilty to corruption charges. Blanco was elected to serve the remainder of Rivera's term, and was re-elected to a full term on May 12, 2009, with 53.1% of votes cast, defeating Passaic Board of Education member Vinny Capuana.