An old political adage says, “Elections aren’t won on Election Day, but in the months before.”
Yet, for Election Day this year, the headquarters of the Bayonne Democratic Organization was a hive of activity, since a huge part of the victory hinged on getting people to come out and vote.
People ventured into and out of the stop on Broadway near 21st Street all day long, carrying messages or taking out campaign material. For the most part, people answered phones and directed campaign workers to various areas of the city in an attempt to get voters to the booths before the polls closed at 8 p.m.
Tables inside the storefront were arranged by ward, with a worker seated at each and a telephone nearby. Key workers were armed with voting lists, and most pretty much knew who would be likely to vote for the Democratic candidates and who would not.
While voters had to choose between Republican Douglas Forester and Democrat Jon Corzine for governor, local races helped draw out voters – with Democrat Doreen McAndrew DiDomenico running for freeholder against Independent Denis F. Wilbeck and Republican David Solari to replace retiring Freeholder Barry Dugan.
Also contested were the two 31st District Assembly seats that pitted Democrat incumbent Louis Manzo and his runningmate Charles Epps, against Republicans Rita A. Howard and Andrew Wirtz.
Workers were motivated by a call from county Democrats to get out the vote for Corzine, hoping to overcome an expected surge of Republican votes elsewhere in the state. They generated more votes than they expected, helping Democrats sweep the seats by hefty margins.
Prominent public officials rubbed shoulders with the relatively unknown volunteer campaign staff as they made their way in and out of headquarters, many rushing off to this polling place or that to get a gauge of the progress being made.
Bayonne is a Democratic powerhouse now
While a Democratic victory was not a surprise, the margin of victory was.
For Manzo, Bayonne’s turnout was amazing, putting the Democratic organization here on the same level as previously reserved for places like North Bergen and Union City.
“This election made the Bayonne organization something to be reckoned with,” said Manzo. “This proves that the [Mayor Joseph] Doria team can get out the vote, and that will be looked at by many for along time.”
Local candidates won handily, carrying each district by margins that were two or three times their opponents. Corzine took 65 percent of the city’s vote, far better than Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry last year, who managed about 55 percent over Republican incumbent President George W. Bush.
In the Assembly race, Manzo received 25,104 votes, Epps, 23,915, Andrew Wirtz, 6,260, and Rita A. Howard, 6,215.
In the freeholder race, DiDomenico received 6,902 votes, Wilbeck, 3,027, and Solari, 2,873.
Steve Gallo, who was one of the architects of the Bayonne organization, said “the best candidates won and we have them top to bottom. We had a clear message and got it out to the community.”
This message, he said, tied into the message Corzine was giving. Doria, who serves also as state senator for the 31st District, supported Corzine’s call for tax reform and the call for a special session of the legislature to deal with it.
Down to details
In one of the larger conference rooms, wall charts depicted progress made in previous elections. This was detailed by time of day, district, and year.
“We don’t count the presidential election years, because people always turn out in greater numbers for those,” said Doria, explaining how the campaign headquarters kept track of progress.
While the polls were unlikely to see faces as prominent as Corzine’s, Epps made the tour of the polls. So did Manzo. Doria and other elected Bayonne made repeated visits – all in an effort to keep the feeling of victory alive.
By the time the 5 p.m. reports came back, Doria and others knew pretty much knew they were having a reasonably large turnout.
“I think this election was about sending a message to Washington D.C.,” Doria later said. “People came out because they wanted to make sure they voted Democratic in this election.”
But Doria was very honest in his assessment of the last week of the gubernatorial campaign.
“I think a lot of people on both sides were turned off by the negative campaigning,” he said.
A construction sheet rock worker during the rest of the year, Matthew Baum, worked as a challenger in the 1st Ward. He said a lot of people came to vote, although it got busiest as his polling place around 5 p.m.
“We had a good turnout, but a lot of them came in after work,” he said.
A local celebration
Once the polls closed and votes counted, workers made their weary way to the Catholic War Veterans Post on 24th Street, where they would celebrate with beer and sandwiches. Epps, Manzo and DiDomenico arrived to rousing cheers, each shaking hands or hugging supporters before giving a short speech of thanks. Each said there were too many people to thank because the election was a team effort that involved everyone, but inevitably, each gave great thanks to Doria, who led the fight.
Unions played a big role, too, providing workers. Union people from the New Jersey Turnpike, Bayonne Medical Center, New Jersey Transit and other groups helped out.
A gushing Epps told the crowd, “My heart is warmed by all the committee people in Bayonne. Whatever you need, I’ll be there for you.”
DiDomenico called the outcome of the election a vote of trust.
“This vote said that you trust me to represent you, and I will,” she said.
And while Doria would not announce his candidacy for mayor at this time, saying people needed a break until after the holidays, he said this election would carry over into the municipal elections next May.
“We won a great victory here,” he said, stressing the fact that it is because those in the district “do their job.” He added, “If we keep on doing our job as public officials we can expect victory in 2007. But we have to keep on doing the job.”
Then each of the victorious candidates made his or her way north to Jersey City at the County celebration going on at Casino in the Park. They were greeted by the victors of other races, and by Hudson County Democratic Chairman Bernard Kenny.
Kenny said that two people helped orchestrate the Democratic victory in Hudson County for local candidates as well as Corzine: Hudson County Democratic Organization Executive Director Erica Daughtry, and Nicholas Chiaravalloti, district director for Rep. Bob Menendez. Both of themcame out of the Bayonne organization and are still Bayonne residents.
“They were instrumental in getting out the vote for Jon Corzine,” Kenny said.