HOBOKEN – Leonard Luizzi, a 5th Ward Hoboken longtime resident and the current official city historian, is the first to publicly announced that he will challenge Councilman Peter Cunningham in the 5th Ward in the May 10 council election, when six ward seats will expire.
Cunningham has already filed paperwork with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) for the May election. No other 5th Ward challenger has filed paperwork to run for office, but Luizzi declared his candidacy in a letter/advertisement on page 3 of The Hoboken Reporter this past weekend.
Luizzi writes that he has never held elected office, but has “served Hoboken in a variety of civic capacities,” including on the Friends of the Hoboken Public Library, the Hoboken Jaycees, the Hoboken Elks Lodge, the Hoboken Knights of Columbus, and is a past president of the Hoboken Historical Museum, as well as other community organizations.
“[The] ability to work with all political factions, with every demographic group in our culturally diverse city, is arguably one of the most important qualifications I would bring to the City Council,” Luizzi wrote in the letter.
For the complete letter, see page 3 of the Jan. 16 Hoboken Reporter.
– Ray Smith