The night before Election Day in Jersey City, optimism filled the confines of a Filipino restaurant on West Side Avenue as supporters of Greg Racelis gathered and promised him of their votes.

But a few hours after the polls closed on Tuesday night, a pall of gloom descended on the Filipino community as Racelis lost his bid for councilor in Ward B.

For hundreds of thousands of Filipinos here, Racelis' candidacy was considered a test of their strength and unity, and winning in the election would have helped the voice of Filipinos to resonate in the City Hall.

Racelis, a real estate agent, lost 52.37 percent of the votes to his strongest contender, Mary Spinello, director with the Jersey City Incinerator Authority and an ally of re-elected Mayor Jerramiah Healy.

While members of Racelis' camp were still reeling in defeat, it still remains for them to ask the question: How far did Filipino-American voters support Racelis?

"I'm saddened that Filipino-Americans were lukewarm over the candidacy of Greg," said Ed Toloza, 51, Jersey City tax assessor. "During the campaign period, we didn't even see a lot of Filipino-American leaders from different organizations who could have strongly consolidated essential efforts for Greg."

There will never be a Filipino-American to win a seat in the council, Toloza said, unless the Filipino community becomes united, adding that it's time for Filipinos to start all over again.

For Carmen Flores, 57, who rigorously campaigned for Racelis, one of the reasons that he lost the election was because he ran as an independent candidate.

"When you are all alone and are not part of any political party, it is hard to pull the mainstream voters," she said.

But Flores, of Broadman Parkway, still believes that if Filipino-American voters had solidly cast their vote for Racelis, it would have been a sure win.

"We estimated to have about 2,000 eligible Filipino-American voters in Ward B. But where were they?" she said.

According to the official results posted on the Web site of the Hudson County Clerk’s Office, Racelis garnered 820 votes, second to Spinello's 1,702 votes.

Tom Simba, 67, another Filipino-American voter who was one of the poll-challengers for Racelis during the Election Day, said that the residence of Filipino voters should also be taken into consideration.

"True, there are thousands of Filipino-American voters here. But we have to realize that many of them voted for Ward C because they actually belong there," Simba said.

Ted Reyes, 27, of Montgomery Street, did not agree that ethnicity should be the basis of voting behavior among Filipinos.

"I have nothing against Racelis, but this election showed us that Filipino-Americans are intelligent voters. We don't just vote because the candidate is our own kind. We vote for someone we believe is competent," Reyes said.

Meanwhile, Racelis, who recently donated $10,000 to the Cunningham Foundation, was endorsed by Sandra Cunningham, wife of the late Jersey City Mayor Glenn D. Cunningham. The donation was collected from many Filipino-Americans, according to members of the Philippine American Friendship Committee, and was originally intended to pay the flight of Mayor Cunningham and his wife for a social and exposure trip to the Philippines.

Racelis, however, could not be reached. His wife, Mecita Racelis, was mum on the results of the elections. "I have nothing to say," she said.