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If the polls are right, then one outcome is certain in Hoboken's mayoral race: the winner will be a woman, the first ever to hold the elected head of Hoboken government.

She'll also be a native of somewhere other than Hoboken, believed to be another first in the city's history. But perhaps most significantly to a now-growing population in both Hoboken and the surrounding environs of Hudson County, she will also be Jewish.

The two front-runners in Hoboken's May 12 election appear to be current City Council members Beth Mason and Dawn Zimmer, both converted Jews who belong to United Synagogue of Hoboken. Four other candidates -- Councilman Peter Cammarano and independents Ryn Melberg, Frank Orsini, and Tom Vincent -- are also on the ballot, although only Cammarano is considered by many to be well-funded enough to be a viable threat to Mason and Zimmer.

If no candidate garners 50 percent of the vote on May 12, a runoff election between the top two vote getters will be held in mid-June.

"The fact that there are Jewish people running for office in the area is representative of the renewal of Jewish life in a region where most of the population left," said Adam Weiss, chairman of HudsonJewish.

As a nonprofit organization, HudsonJewish cannot endorse candidates, but both Weiss and other Jews certainly have said they take pride that the community has grown populous enough to spur runs for political office.

"Whether or not I or anyone else agrees with (either potential) mayor's platform," HudsonJewish trustee Neil Davis added in an email, "it's refreshing to see some Jewish faces returning to positions of political prominence."

Both Mason and Zimmer took similar, if indirect, routes to Judaism, converting later in life.

Mason, a 48-year-old native of Virginia who was exposed to several Catholic and other Christian denominations, converted before marrying her husband, Ricky. The pair has lived in Hoboken for about 25 years and now has two children, Shipley and Virginia. Zimmer, 41, was raised Unitarian in New Hampshire, but converted when she and her husband, Stan Grossbard, agreed to raise their two sons -- Jacob and Alex -- in the Jewish faith. Zimmer has lived in Hoboken for about six years.

Both women, aside from serving on the often-contentious City Council, are active in Jewish affairs. Zimmer has served on the board for USH's preschool program and Mason has been involved with the National Council of Jewish Women. Each woman noted that their Jewish faith helped attract them to public service.

"Part of what I love about Judaism is it's about community action and taking a role in your community," said Zimmer, a public relations professional. "This is representative of that."

"It's pride," added Mason, a self-employed management consultant. "Pride in terms of family and the values we hold as a family. The Jewish faith... is very conducive to people who want to hold office."

Mason cited the Jewish rituals of tzedakah, caring for the less fortunate, and placing a focus on education, both for one's children and one's community, as examples of how faith can translate to politics.

Zimmer and Mason agreed that their faith won't affect their decision-making in terms of favoritism. Good thing, too. Faith doesn't trump an upset taxpayer with a complaint in hand, noted Matt Meistrich, a Hoboken resident active with HudsonJewish.

"The mayor's ethnicity doesn't really matter much," Meistrich said. "We're all more concerned about fixing the streets, filling potholes, and maybe installing some working traffic lights and proper stop signs. The endemic corruption and failures of our local governments over the years to do anything right make any type of ethnic loyalty a distant second."

For more information, see the candidates' Web sites, at: www.zimmerforchange.com; www.bethmasonformayor.com.