Several reports this week claim Bret Schundler has lowered his expectations a little and may be seeking to run against the battle-weary Jerramiah Healy for mayor of Jersey City in 2009.
Although it is way to early to predict whether Schundler will actually run for a post he vacated in 2001 when he sought to become governor, some reports suggest he is already looking to assemble a ticket and could be looking at a slate of candidates who have, for one reason or another, been excluded by Jersey City Democrats.
While no official names have been released, some speculate that former Acting Mayor and one-time Council President L.Harvey Smith may be considered. Councilman Steve Fulop, who ran as an independent, could also be approached.
Schundler was first elected Jersey City mayor in the special election of 1992 to become the first Republican mayor of Jersey City since 1917. He was re-elected in 1993 and 1997.
In 2001, Bret Schundler ran for governor against Jim McGreevey and lost, and sought the Republican nomination again last year, but failed to get it.
Schundler earned a reputation as an advocate against rising taxes, which may make him attractive after a year when local taxpayers saw increases in school, municipal and county taxes.
Can you pronounce County Executive Kenny?
In an effort to avoid another titanic split in the Democrat Party in Hudson County, several key people have apparently met to mend fences between Assemblyman and Union City Mayor Brian Stack and State Sen. Bernard Kenny.
Stack intends to challenge Kenny for the state Senate next June unless a compromise can be reached. Reports suggest that state Senator and Bayonne Mayor Joseph Doria, State Sen. and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco, and Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy may back a plan that would give the Hudson County Democratic Organization’s nomination for county executive to Kenny, clearing the way for Stack to ascend to the state Senate.
Stack and Assemblyman Louis Manzo have allegedly given the plan their blessing.
If so, where will County Executive Tom DeGise go?
If there is a Schundler ticket, perhaps DeGise will run for council?
Menendez to remain powerful in Hudson County?
Although some political forces in Jersey City hope U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez will lose interest in Hudson County politics, a Kenny move to county executive would likely keep Menendez’s hand in local politics. Menendez has long had a powerbase in Jersey City, cultivating alliances that would keep fellow Democrats from setting up their own organizations.
Manzo is a strong ally. But reports suggest that Hudson County political powerhouse Greg Guy may also have strong loyalties, and Guy is rapidly become a force to reckon with, a behind-the-scenes political magician to whom many owe debts of gratitude.
But some believe that Menendez’s influence reaches into some Republican enclaves, too, working to keep them weak or uncertain both in Hudson County and in Bergen County.
Yet, Menendez may be nervous about local loyalties, despite his ability to keep fellow Democratic competition off balance, and reports suggest that he may be bringing in people not associated with Jersey City or Hudson County to run his campaign here.
Republicans launch anti-Menendez campaign
For the last few months, Republican researchers have been combing Hudson County for dirt state Senator Tom Kean Jr. can use against Menendez.
Not a rock went unturned if a rumor suggested Republicans might find something that would give Kean the edge in the race for U.S. Senate in the fall.
Last week – as if straight out of a scene from The Godfather movie – the Republican-friendly media began to release the findings of this research, coming up with Menendez’s former legal partner Manny Diaz – a man who served two years in federal prison for cocaine trafficking.
The Kean campaign quickly issued a statement questioning Menendez’s judgment, as if Menendez was the only person in New Jersey with a friend who uses or even deals with cocaine – when national statistics show that 1 out of every 4 Americans between 26 to 34 has used the drug, and 5,000 nationally try it every day.
Common knowledge has long said cocaine is the drug of choice among many politicians in Hudson County, and that politicians often relied on a particular politically-connected drug dealer to transport the drug from Florida during several trips each year.
“He brags about bringing it north,” said one local official who is aware of the Florida connection, supplying some needy political customers in Hoboken, North Hudson, Secaucus, and yes, even Jersey City.
Even the scrounging Republicans appear unable to connect Menendez to this connection.
‘Hinesight’ again?
The Hudson County freeholders may have done Menendez a favor by extending the county’s computer services contract until after the November election.
Several years ago, Menendez was called out for a letter he wrote on behalf of Hinesight, a company that eventually won the county contract despite strong objections from other vendors who actually submitted lower bids.
With Republicans hunting for fodder and dusting off the bones of old scandals in North Hudson, fellow Democrats seem to be burying – at least for the moment – areas of concern where Menendez may actually be vulnerable.
While cocaine arrests may make headlines, the real issue has to do with contracts and who gets them, an area that could bring the Kean campaign significant returns if Republican dirt-diggers delve into the right places.
Secaucus election may get dirty
Insiders claim that a campaign to discredit 2nd Ward Council candidate Michael Gonnelli may soon get underway. Traditionally, negative campaigns in Secaucus usually start in mid to late August.
The election will be held in November.
Gonnelli, the city’s public works supervisor, was spurred into a more open political role over a retirement package dispute with the administration. Then there were claims that Mayor Dennis Elwell allegedly tried to influence Gonnelli’s New Jersey Meadowlands Commission vote in favor of a Wal-Mart gas station approval. Gonnelli has played a role in local politics since the late 1980s.
While some people have urged him to withdraw, the bad feelings generated over the last year or so made this election resemble a feud in which neither side will back down.
Voters, of course, will have to choose between three candidates in the 2nd Ward: Gonnelli, Elwell-backed Council incumbent Bob Kickey, or School Trustee Tom Troyer.
Gonnelli had strong backing from former Elwell allies when Elwell ran as an independent, and this could make a huge difference.
While Elwell has the able advice of Kickey and Town Administrator Anthony Iacono, Gonnelli has old guard political forces such as Danny Amico.