Eleven run for mayor in Jersey City

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Eleven run for mayor in Jersey City

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Posted by By STEVE KORNACKI on September 15, 2004 at 18:09:56:

Eleven run for mayor in Jersey City

September 15 - The last time Jersey City held a special election for mayor was in 1992, and the winner-take-all nature of the contest attracted 19 candidates. With no run-off, Bret D. Schundler, then an unknown Wall Street whiz kid, eked out a victory with 17 percent of the vote, ultimately parlaying his narrow win into two terms as mayor and a run for governor in 2001.

Now, 12 years later, the top job in the state’s second largest city will once again be decided in a wide open special election, and with the passing of the filing deadline this afternoon it looks like there will be 11 names on the November ballot.

Whether all 11 will stick it out for the next seven weeks -- this being Jersey City, it’s not impossible some of the lesser known candidates might offer to quit in exchange for future favors from one of the frontrunners -- is uncertain, but only six of the combatants appear to have significant support: Acting Mayor L. Harvey Smith, Assemblyman Lou Manzo, Councilman Jerramiah Healy, police chief Ronald Buonocore, former Councilwoman Willie Flood, and Councilman Steve Lipski.

Exactly how those half-dozen would-be mayors stack up against one another is debatable, but if there is a consensus among political observers and allies of the top-tier candidates it’s this: Manzo is the frontrunner, Healy is a strong second, and Smith, despite his title, has almost no chance of winning.

This is actually Manzo’s fourth bid for mayor. He made it to a run-off in the spring of 1993, losing in a landslide to Schundler. He also ran in the ‘92 special election and placed third in 2001. A former Hudson County freeholder, he won an Assembly seat representing Bayonne and some of the inland sections of Jersey City last spring. That win was largely the result of running on the same ticket as the late Glenn Cunningham.

“I don’t think it’s so much that he has a base,” one elected official who is neutral in the race said of Manzo’s frontrunner status. “I think it’s the fact of historical name recognition. Obviously the Assembly race last year boosted his name, and in a race like this, name recognition is a major factor. And when he ran in ‘92, remember, Lou got 14 percent of the vote and his brother got 13 percent, so together that would have been 27 percent.”

Manzo’s strategy is being shaped with the help of Gerald McCann, a former mayor with dead-on political instincts who had to give up his office in 1992 when he was convicted on federal charges unrelated to his management of the city.

“He may be crazy, but he knows his stuff politically,” the elected official said of McCann.

If Manzo doesn’t win, Healy, who forced Schundler into an unlikely run-off when he ran for mayor in 1997, is considered the next best bet.

An at-large councilman and former judge, he has the backing of Tom DeGise, who lost a mayoral run-off to Cunningham three years ago and who is now the Hudson County executive.

“I think because Manzo got an earlier start (he announced his candidacy just days after Cunningham’s death in May) than anyone else might mean he’s a few points ahead, but the reality is Healy’s campaign is just kicking into gear,” said Bill Gaughan, Jersey City’s Democratic chairman and the chief of staff to DeGise.

The city’s Democratic organization is backing Healy and with many of DeGise’s allies lining up with Healy, the councilman may end up being the best-funded candidate in the race. Gaughan estimated that a Healy fundraiser earlier this week attracted 650 people.

Jersey City’s population is divided roughly evenly between whites, blacks and Hispanics, and Gaughan predicted that Healy, who is white, will best Manzo, who is also white, by making more inroads into the Hispanic community. The city’s two Hispanic councilmen, Mariano Vega and Junior Maldonado, are both Healy supporters.

“I personally believe this is going to be won by a coalition of whites and Hispanics,” said Gaughan.

Among African-Americans, whose near-unanimous support helped make Cunningham the city’s first black mayor in 2001, loyalties seem to be divided, mostly between Smith and Flood, the two African-Americans in the race.

The entry of Flood, who was a close ally of Cunningham and who is running as the candidate of “The Cunningham Team,” was devastating to Smith, insiders say, since Smith is considered a pariah by many black voters because of his very public clashes with Cunningham.

“He doesn’t understand this, and I don’t know his people understand it,” one Democratic insider said of Smith, “but being the acting mayor will probably only get him a little boost, and he doesn’t have what should be his own base. And if you don’t have your own base, you have nothing. It’s clear the majority of the African-American community is not with him.”

If Flood can pull a significant chuck of African-American votes, she could rise as high as second place, some say, though it’s unlikely she will win because her support seems limited to the black community.

Cunningham’s sudden death in May triggered the special election, and even in death he’s cast a shadow on the contest. His widow, Sandra Bolden-Cunningham, declined to run, even though she was seen as the likely frontrunner if she entered.

The late mayor’s political organization, which was never that strong and was built largely on the popularity of Cunningham himself, could play a role in deciding the winner but it seems split.

Bolden-Cunningham and Eugene Drayton, one of Cunningham’s deputy mayors, have endorsed Buonocore, while Bobby Jackson and Joe Cardwell, two key players in the Cunningham machine, are with Flood. Some say the quartet broke up over the question of who should control the purse-strings of the various Cunningham campaign funds.

Bolden-Cunningham’s support of Buonocore makes him a factor, observers say, but she has not taken a very active role in his effort. Speculation is that she won’t end up delivering many loyalists of the late mayor to the police chief.

“Why are black voters going to go with the white police chief?” one insider asked bluntly.

“I think Willie Flood has more of a chance (of winning Cunningham voters), given that ‘The Cunningham Team’ is her slogan,” said another neutral insider. “And I think people really understand that she would be Glenn’s pick.”

The winner of the special election will be sworn in immediately and will serve at least through next spring’s regularly scheduled municipal election.

Steve Kornacki can be reached at kornackinj@aol.com

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: Eleven run for mayor in Jersey City

: September 15 - The last time Jersey City held a special election for mayor was in 1992, and the winner-take-all nature of the contest attracted 19 candidates. With no run-off, Bret D. Schundler, then an unknown Wall Street whiz kid, eked out a victory with 17 percent of the vote, ultimately parlaying his narrow win into two terms as mayor and a run for governor in 2001.

: Now, 12 years later, the top job in the state’s second largest city will once again be decided in a wide open special election, and with the passing of the filing deadline this afternoon it looks like there will be 11 names on the November ballot.

: Whether all 11 will stick it out for the next seven weeks -- this being Jersey City, it’s not impossible some of the lesser known candidates might offer to quit in exchange for future favors from one of the frontrunners -- is uncertain, but only six of the combatants appear to have significant support: Acting Mayor L. Harvey Smith, Assemblyman Lou Manzo, Councilman Jerramiah Healy, police chief Ronald Buonocore, former Councilwoman Willie Flood, and Councilman Steve Lipski.

: Exactly how those half-dozen would-be mayors stack up against one another is debatable, but if there is a consensus among political observers and allies of the top-tier candidates it’s this: Manzo is the frontrunner, Healy is a strong second, and Smith, despite his title, has almost no chance of winning.

: This is actually Manzo’s fourth bid for mayor. He made it to a run-off in the spring of 1993, losing in a landslide to Schundler. He also ran in the ‘92 special election and placed third in 2001. A former Hudson County freeholder, he won an Assembly seat representing Bayonne and some of the inland sections of Jersey City last spring. That win was largely the result of running on the same ticket as the late Glenn Cunningham.

: “I don’t think it’s so much that he has a base,” one elected official who is neutral in the race said of Manzo’s frontrunner status. “I think it’s the fact of historical name recognition. Obviously the Assembly race last year boosted his name, and in a race like this, name recognition is a major factor. And when he ran in ‘92, remember, Lou got 14 percent of the vote and his brother got 13 percent, so together that would have been 27 percent.”

: Manzo’s strategy is being shaped with the help of Gerald McCann, a former mayor with dead-on political instincts who had to give up his office in 1992 when he was convicted on federal charges unrelated to his management of the city.

: “He may be crazy, but he knows his stuff politically,” the elected official said of McCann.

: If Manzo doesn’t win, Healy, who forced Schundler into an unlikely run-off when he ran for mayor in 1997, is considered the next best bet.

: An at-large councilman and former judge, he has the backing of Tom DeGise, who lost a mayoral run-off to Cunningham three years ago and who is now the Hudson County executive.

: “I think because Manzo got an earlier start (he announced his candidacy just days after Cunningham’s death in May) than anyone else might mean he’s a few points ahead, but the reality is Healy’s campaign is just kicking into gear,” said Bill Gaughan, Jersey City’s Democratic chairman and the chief of staff to DeGise.

: The city’s Democratic organization is backing Healy and with many of DeGise’s allies lining up with Healy, the councilman may end up being the best-funded candidate in the race. Gaughan estimated that a Healy fundraiser earlier this week attracted 650 people.

: Jersey City’s population is divided roughly evenly between whites, blacks and Hispanics, and Gaughan predicted that Healy, who is white, will best Manzo, who is also white, by making more inroads into the Hispanic community. The city’s two Hispanic councilmen, Mariano Vega and Junior Maldonado, are both Healy supporters.

: “I personally believe this is going to be won by a coalition of whites and Hispanics,” said Gaughan.

: Among African-Americans, whose near-unanimous support helped make Cunningham the city’s first black mayor in 2001, loyalties seem to be divided, mostly between Smith and Flood, the two African-Americans in the race.

: The entry of Flood, who was a close ally of Cunningham and who is running as the candidate of “The Cunningham Team,” was devastating to Smith, insiders say, since Smith is considered a pariah by many black voters because of his very public clashes with Cunningham.

: “He doesn’t understand this, and I don’t know his people understand it,” one Democratic insider said of Smith, “but being the acting mayor will probably only get him a little boost, and he doesn’t have what should be his own base. And if you don’t have your own base, you have nothing. It’s clear the majority of the African-American community is not with him.”

: If Flood can pull a significant chuck of African-American votes, she could rise as high as second place, some say, though it’s unlikely she will win because her support seems limited to the black community.

: Cunningham’s sudden death in May triggered the special election, and even in death he’s cast a shadow on the contest. His widow, Sandra Bolden-Cunningham, declined to run, even though she was seen as the likely frontrunner if she entered.

: The late mayor’s political organization, which was never that strong and was built largely on the popularity of Cunningham himself, could play a role in deciding the winner but it seems split.

: Bolden-Cunningham and Eugene Drayton, one of Cunningham’s deputy mayors, have endorsed Buonocore, while Bobby Jackson and Joe Cardwell, two key players in the Cunningham machine, are with Flood. Some say the quartet broke up over the question of who should control the purse-strings of the various Cunningham campaign funds.

: Bolden-Cunningham’s support of Buonocore makes him a factor, observers say, but she has not taken a very active role in his effort. Speculation is that she won’t end up delivering many loyalists of the late mayor to the police chief.

: “Why are black voters going to go with the white police chief?” one insider asked bluntly.

: “I think Willie Flood has more of a chance (of winning Cunningham voters), given that ‘The Cunningham Team’ is her slogan,” said another neutral insider. “And I think people really understand that she would be Glenn’s pick.”

: The winner of the special election will be sworn in immediately and will serve at least through next spring’s regularly scheduled municipal election.

: Steve Kornacki can be reached at kornackinj@aol.com

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