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: The last time we looked, Jersey City Council President L. Harvey Smith was still African-American and Assemblywoman Elba Perez-Cinciarelli of Jersey City was still a Latina. 

: Yet their continuing court challenges to the results of the June Democratic primary in the 31st Legislative District are continually labeled as racist actions by opponents, particularly Jersey City Mayor Glenn D. Cunningham. 

: 
: Cunningham defeated Smith for the Democratic nomination for state Senate. His running mates, Bayonne Councilman Anthony Chiappone and former Hudson County Freeholder Louis Manzo of Jersey City, defeated Perez-Cinciarelli and Assemblyman Joseph V. Doria Jr., who is also mayor of Bayonne. 

: Smith, Perez-Cinciarelli and Doria were the candidates of the Hudson County Democratic Organization, and they're now in court trying to void the results. They allege voter fraud and illegal campaign spending. 

: It may be a grasping at straws. It may be an attempt, as the Cunningham team charges, to "steal" an election through the courts that they couldn't win at the polls. Maybe the HCDO has a case. It spent more than $1 million on a losing campaign, so what's another $100,000 or so to go to court? 

: But is it racism? 

: In this case, Cunningham argues that the challenge involves the mostly African-American portion of the district. But racism's a charge Jersey City's first African-American mayor and his allies have never been shy of employing in the 11/2 years that Cunningham has been battling with the HCDO leadership. 

: Rep. Robert Menendez, D-Hoboken, has been a particular Cunningham target, but he has plenty of company. Even Gov. James E. McGreevey has been included because of his support of HCDO candidates and his subsequent refusal to intervene on behalf of Cunningham as the legal battle continues. 

: Numerous other opponents, or people who just disagree with the mayor on issues, have been labeled as racist by the Cunningham camp - including this newspaper because it didn't endorse him for mayor two years ago or for Senate this year. African-Americans like Smith who oppose Cunningham are called traitors to their race. 

: Is Smith any less African-American because he ran against Cunningham instead of supporting him? Why is dumping a Latina elected official in favor of an Italian-American male any less racially motivated than challenging Cunningham? 

: If the results were overturned, wouldn't Smith and Perez-Cinciarelli be the beneficiaries? Would that be racism? 

: It's also no small irony that Cunningham has surrounded himself with advisers who in the past he criticized for their attempts to thwart minority voters - and, in fact, were the principals in a municipal election campaign that led to civil rights complaints alleging attempts to suppress minority votes. The case cost an insurance firm some $600,000 to settle. 

: Now that those people campaign for Cunningham, there's no mention by the administration of these past complaints. 

: There are many reasons for the HCDO and Cunningham to be fighting - the desire to control patronage and contracts; the reluctance of most of the other mayors in the county to let any mayor of Jersey City of any color impose his will upon the county political apparatus; plain old ego. 

: Cunningham maintains he wants only his fair share. The HCDO says it's willing to give him a fair share. What are the chances of agreeing on what is a fair share? Meanwhile, the invective goes on. 

: There's no question that racism exists and should be exposed. But equating any or all anti-Cunningham sentiment or activity with racism is disingenuous, if not outright dishonest. 

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