Not wanting to upset the apple cart before this past Tuesday night’s primary elections, those inside the Hudson County Democratic Organization refused to confirm that Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith will become the next HCDO chairman.
But sources say that Smith is a done deal, if he can meet with all the concerned citizens and get their blessings.
The most prominent of these citizens is state Sen. and Union City Mayor Brian Stack, with whom Smith was seen rubbing shoulders at the Hoboken Memorial Day Parade two weeks ago.
Smith and Stack have been in contention for the seat for months, although it was pretty clear to most insiders that Stack really didn’t want the position, but had been encouraged to seek it partly at apparent urging of U.S Sen. Robert Menendez.
While not rising to the level of a political war, the disagreement over who should become chairman of the financially destitute political organization shows how fractured the local Democrats are, and perhaps why Republicans have made inroads into what was once considered one of the most powerful Democratic strongholds in the country.
Changing demographics partly explain this deterioration, as the county has become populated with a less-beholden population of young voters, who are less likely to vote a party line or depend on political bosses than are the fading population of immigrants and other working poor.
The HCDO has long been mired in the older concept, often unaware of the change of political tides taking place in the county and the state.
One symptom of this is the current race for county sheriff, where incumbent Juan Perez, hand-picked three years ago to replace Joe Cassidy, has lost political favor. He failed to receive HCDO support in his current re-election bid and was replaced by Frank X. Schillari on the Democratic line. This wasn’t because a majority of Democratic committee people disliked Perez, but because Perez apparently offended some mayors. While Perez denies this, some municipal leaders objected to Perez’s more aggressive policing activities that took his officers out of the parks and onto county roads – which had been traditionally enforced by municipal police.
Perez also apparently upset some people inside the sheriff’s department – and in one case inspired a lawsuit – for allegedly assigning people based on politics rather than ability, part of a long Hudson County system of patronage with which voters are becoming more and more impatient.
While some people credit the NJ Tea Party for inspiring a shift from Democrat to Republican registrations around the state, in Hudson County Democrats have only themselves to blame. Perez’s switching from Democrat to Republican is more than a political move; it is an omen about the future of Democrats.
Republicanism is no longer the dirty word Democrats here made it out to be. While some Democratic leaders get it, such as Smith, Stack, and Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer, others are still locked into the past, thinking that somehow the Democratic hegemony will return when in fact it is most likely gone forever.
By choosing Smith, the Democrats are not completely breaking away with tradition, since many of the key people around Smith are deeply involved with Democratic leadership in the county. But Smith, like Stack and Zimmer, is seen as a step away from the old order, someone who may be able to modernize the party and bring it more in line with the political realities of a new Hudson County.
Perhaps the message has even reached into the heart of the old guard, since it appears that the power elite of Hudson County – state Sen. and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, and County Executive Tom DeGise – are apparently on board with the change.
Healy currently holds the post of chairman. DeGise was rumored as a possible compromise choice. But bad feelings between Sacco and DeGise over another, unrelated matter, seemed to have spoiled the chances for such a compromise. Some in the leadership may also have feared DeGise might live up to his promise to get even with state Sen. Sandra Cunningham for blocking his appointment to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in favor of a Union County mayor.
Although Smith may have issues with Cunningham – especially over her blocking of transportation aid to Bayonne – most believe their differences can be worked out.
Many inside the organization feared Stack as chairman, partly because Stack is the ultimate outsider, someone who would come in and clean house – perhaps the right thing to do, but not the politically savvy thing if he expected to get the same people supporting his nomination for chairman.
With a new Republican governor and the potential for major political changes in the landscape after next year’s redistricting, the new chairman will be doing more than just raising money. Smith – if he is named the chairman – will have to repair the wounds in the party while at the same time trying to reach out to a generation of newcomers who need some reason to believe in the Democratic Party again.
Meanwhile, the Republican Party in Hudson County can be bolstered by the fact that many new voters have come to believe in some of the principles Republicans have been preaching to deaf ears for years – such as the out-of-control patronage in the state, and the unreasonably high taxes that are making it impossible for people to live here.
Although some may disagree with measures Gov. Christopher Christie has proposed for curbing the spending habits of municipalities, those paying the taxes agree something has to be done, since municipalities, school districts, and county governments throughout the state – who have always had the ability to cut property taxes – are simply incapable of doing it themselves.
In his first appearance after announcing his ambitious program to cut the state budget, Christie came to Bayonne, where he proclaimed Smith’s effort a model.
In some ways, this was a gesture to indicate Christie might be approachable, provided Democrats focus on some of the same goals. Smith got the message. So did Zimmer and Stack.