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Posted by Pepe Bonmot
on March 31, 2002 at 07:48:01:
Between the lines The victory is in the numbers, he says. Mayor Glenn Cunningham is supporting Hartnett's re-election during a primary battle against Menendez's supported candidate, Tom DeGise. DeGise can count on the support of Jersey City Heights Councilman Bill Gaughan, who already has indicated support. Hartnett, however, believes Jersey City voters can overcome voting from the rest of the county. "Eleven mayors are not the Democratic Party," Hartnett said last week, claiming that voters inside and outside Jersey City aren't particularly in favor of Menendez or DeGise. While DeGise may have a strong voting bloc in Jersey City, testifying to his close election numbers when running against Cunningham last year for mayor, some of this has been off-set by support for Hartnett by people like former Jersey City Mayor Gerald McCann. Hartnett also believes his side is much more motivated than those supporting DeGise, and pointed to on-going efforts to register voters. Hartnett said his team would field a full ticket of freeholders against DeGise with strong support in Jersey City from current Freeholders William Braker and William O'Dea. Former freeholder and Jersey City Mayoral candidate Lou Manzo, who was on Menendez's short list as a possible county executive candidate, became O'Dea's campaign manager recently. Freeholder Nidia Colon - who won Menendez's disfavor in 1996 for supporting a McCann campaign for mayor - has come out in support of DeGise nevetheless, prompting the Hartnett team to seek a candidate to face off against her in the primary as well. Hartnett will also likely back Guttenberg's former mayoral candidate Tom Rizzi to run against Freeholder Chairman Sal Vega in the primary. "We're also going to have strong candidates in Bayonne and in Hoboken," Hartnett said, predicting his ticket will win five of the nine seats up for re-election. Former Hoboken Mayor Anthony Russo has been courted to face off against incumbent Freeholder Maurice Fitzgibbons. Hartnett did not divulge other names in consideration. By running a full slate of candidates for Congress, county executive, and freeholders, Hartnett hopes to tap into voter frustration with typical Hudson County machine politics. Hartnett's team hopes to strain Menendez's resources in every area. While he knows North Bergen Mayo Nicholas Sacco will send campaign workers into Jersey City Heights as he has in the past to help the DeGise effort, these workers will not be nearly as motivated as those Cunningham will bring to the election. Freeholder and Union City Mayor Brian Stack will not be challenged in the upcoming freeholder primary, nor in the municipal election in May. This lack of opposition leaves his workers less motivated to get out the vote. Stack is among five Union City commissioners seeking re-election, including commissioners Michael Leggiero, Christopher Irizarry and two newcomers, Tilo Rivas Luis Martin. In Union City's commission form of government, the five councilpeople will be elected, and then they can choose one as mayor from among themselves. In the political arena, numbers are very important, even in an uncontested election. A poor showing on the municipal level would not keep Stack from re-election, but could make him seem vulnerable to future rivals. With the handshake agreement that took Board of Education President Paul Amico out of the Secaucus Town Council race, no primary battle looms in Secaucus to challenge three Democratic incumbent councilmen: Mike Grecco, Robert Kickey and Fred Constantino. Secaucus, however, is noted for Independent candidates, who have until the June 4 primary to run. Republicans could also run a slate based on any name written in during the primary. In 1999, Republican Tom Troyer ran for mayor based on a write-in vote during the primary. Troyer, who currently serves on the Board of Education, is among a handful people who might challenge the incumbents in the fall. Among the more interesting races in the county is Weehawken, where Mayor Richard Turner, along with council members James Telizzi, Lou Ferullo, Rosemary Lavagnino and Robert Sosa find themselves confronted by a slate of challengers calling themselves "Weehawken Initiative Now" (WIN). Ben Goldman, along with John Hubbard, Karen Brady and former acting township clerk Arielly Laszlo, are leading what some say is thusfar a single-issue campaign to cut back the size of the proposed Port Imperial waterfront development. While observers of North Hudson politics believe Turner's team will prevail, they acknowledge the unpredictability of single-issue slates, whose membership is often highly motivated. Turner's workers could underestimate their opposition and neglect to get out the necessary vote to overcome the challenge. - Al Sullivan |
