The field of candidates running for mayor of Hoboken will include Patricia Waiters, an associate of political consultant Gene Drayton; Republican Nathan Brinkman; former Board of Education President Frank Raia; Acting Mayor Dawn Zimmer; Councilwoman Beth Mason, and Hoboken Municipal Court Judge Kimberly Glatt.
While Zimmer is said to be the frontrunner, Glatt, Raia, and Mason will likely have well-funded campaigns. Glatt is the surprise candidate, but had been rumored as a possible candidate in last May’s mayoral election.
Some supporters of Zimmer claim this move will split the reform vote between Mason and Zimmer and allow a Hoboken native, either Raia or Glatt, to become mayor, similar to what happened last May when Peter Cammarano rode into the runoff with Zimmer and narrowly beat her.
But Mason supporters say Glatt’s entrance into the race will actually hurt Zimmer more, and could allow Mason to win in the crowded field.
While Glatt supporters see her as a fresh face who could do what Bret Schundler did in Jersey City in 1991, some Mason people believe that Glatt comes into the election process too late to allow voters to get to know her or her issues.
“She has to establish herself in the public mind,” one associate of Mason said. “That’s going to be tough.”
Behind the scenes, reports suggest that some of Hudson County’s political heavyweights will be pushing their respective candidates. This could include Paul Swibinski (for Mason), Michael Lenz (for Zimmer) and Tony Amabile.
With Zimmer as frontrunner, you can expect a negative campaign to start immediately against her to bring down her numbers.
No head of the Democratic ticket in Secaucus
Secaucus Democrats are expected to run for council in November without a mayoral candidate. The resignation of Mayor Dennis Elwell left a void at the top of the ticket. So Assemblyman Vincent Prieto, who has become the new Democratic chairman, has decided they will remain without a candidate, despite requests from some committee members to put someone there to help secure the voters for the three council candidates running. Still, the election will be a test of the popularity of the Independent mayoral candidate, Councilman Michael Gonnelli, and whether it can transfer to the the candidates on his ticket.
Jersey City special election – not so fast
The question has been raised about Jersey City Councilman Marriano Vega, who is paid an extra stipend to serve as council president: Why won’t he step down from the role?
He clearly believes he can beat the rap against himself. Vega was among the 44 arrested in a huge FBI sting this summer. Several people have been indicted, and two others have pled guilty. There are hints that former Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell and former state Assemblyman Louis Manzo may have the charges against them dropped. If so, Vega may be smart in holding out. Some sources claim that Elwell actually didn’t take cash at all, but a check, and donated this to a cancer charity.
Jersey City Councilman Steve Fulop, however, is quoted as predicting a special election not only for Vega’s council seat, but apparently for the disputed seat Nidia Lopez currently holds in Ward C as well as the Mayor’s office. Fulop, of course, is primarily interested in the mayor’s fate.
Lopez, however, is facing the question as to which state she lives in, Florida or New Jersey. She has residences in both places. Her husband, Ben Lopez, director of Hudson County’s Department of Human Services, thinks the whole thing is crazy.
“She’s my wife; she lives with me, and I live in Jersey City,” Lopez said. “If they want to know where she lives, come over to my house.”
Although visited by the FBI, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy has not been charged with any wrongdoing, yet there are already people lining up to become candidates to fill his seat if he does get charged, including apparently Fulop, Sean Connors, Dan Levin, Bret Schundler, and perhaps state Sen. Sandra Cunningham. The only person who doesn’t seem to want the job is Willie Flood, and she may be the most qualified.
One-time Cunningham aide Robert Mays confirmed this week that he is the North Jersey chairman of Democrats for Christopher Christie and that an event will be held soon to get Democrats to cross over to vote for Republican Christie in November against Democrat Jon Corzine.
In Bayonne
During the weeks leading up to charges filed against him for allegedly misdirecting state funds into personal and reelection accounts, Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone was deeply involved with caring for his father – who was undergoing heart surgery. On Sept. 1, Peter Chiappone, 73, of Beachwood, died.
Peter Chiappone, a native of Brooklyn, served at one time as chairman of the Board of the Bayonne Economic Opportunity Foundation, and was past president of the National Organization of Industrial Trade Unions out of Newark.