As Rep. Albio Sires (D-8th Dist.) of West New York, a popular North Hudson political figure, seeks reelection to a seat he has held since 2006, he faces four other candidates. His opponents are Republican candidate Jude Anthony Tiscornia of Jersey City, Pablo Olivera of Newark, Herbert H. Shaw of North Bergen, and Robert Thorne of Guttenberg.
The 8th congressional district encompasses a large part of Jersey City, sections of Hoboken, North Bergen, Kearny, West New York, Guttenberg, Weehawken, Harrison, East Newark, a large part of Bayonne, and parts of Newark, Belleville, Fairview and Elizabeth.
Sires runs on his record
Born in the Bejucal community of Cuba, Sires and his family fled to the United States in 1962 and settled in West New York.
He believes this background has given him a unique perspective as part of the Foreign Affairs Committee. During his first term, he was part of a coalition of Congress members who traveled oversees to help develop democratic governments and to gain insight into some of the older governments to which the United States has ties, such as Greece and Turkey.
He is a former All-State high school basketball player. He earned his B.A. from St. Peter’s College in Spanish and Marketing and his M.A. from Vermont’s Middlebury College, in Spanish. He is a former public school teacher and coach. He held several positions within state government that included assistant to the commissioner of the Department of Corrections, and was elected mayor of West New York in 1995, and a state assemblyman in 2000.
“The way we view success in Congress these days is perverted.” – Jude Anthony Tiscornia
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A proponent of comprehensive immigration reform, Sires says he is concerned with the violence that has driven unaccompanied minors north of the Rio Grande into the United States.
“While the U.S. has to do all it can to ensure these children are treated humanely and in accordance with the law, we must address the larger issue of why so many children are fleeing their homes,” he said.
He is also concerned, he says, about other areas of violence such as the conflicts in the Middle East and in the Ukraine.
Another area of Sires’ concern is global health and the potential spread of infectious diseases, malnutrition and complications that involve pregnancy and child birth – addressed in his legislation called the 21st Century Global Health Technologies Act.
Sires has also been involved with a package of bills that would deal with tax reform and make some tax cuts permanent, while finding alternative ways to deal with the impact of lost revenue as a result
Local kid makes good
Jude-Anthony Tiscornia is a Jersey City attorney who previously ran for state Assembly in the 33rd District.
He graduated Rutgers University in New Brunswick in 2005, and went on to a graduate degree in law from the Thomas M. Cooley School of Law in 2009.
He is married with two children. Born and raised in North Hudson, he moved to Jersey City when he got married. His wife is the daughter of former Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, but he said his politics are different.
“I’m a moderate Republican,” he said. “That means I’m fiscally conservative but socially conscious.”
He said urban Republicans differ from Republicans elsewhere in the state because the needs of people differ.
“This means that we should spend less, and people should be left to themselves,” he said. “I suppose this is more of a libertarian view.”
Tiscornia said he respected Healy and saw him as a kind of mentor, not an opponent.
In Hudson County, he said, people often have relationships with people from the other party, noting that the county Republican Chairman Jose Arango is a personal friend of Sires.
Tiscornia said he is concerned about the logjam in the House of Representatives where politicians in both parties seemed more concerned about blocking the other party’s bills than in getting anything accomplished.
“We should be working to find a way to do things, rather than block bills,” he said. “The way we view success in Congress these days is perverted.”
He said if elected, he would sit down and try to work out the differences.
“We need to get some real successes,” he said.
As a criminal defense attorney, he sees a real need for alternatives, both to provide opportunities for people to avoid crime and to steer them back to the right path when they have wandered off.
Because he also struggled to pay for college, he said he understands the huge burden college kids face when it comes to student loans, something he said needs to be addressed, noting that people shouldn’t come out of college owing as much as they do.
Herbert H. Shaw runs again
Shaw is running on a ticket called “Politicians are Crooks.” He previously ran for the state Senate as an independent in 2011, and in 2009 as a candidate for the state Assembly.
Married with three children, Shaw was born in Weehawken in 1930, but currently lives in North Bergen.
He attended Hackensack Technical School, Bergen County Technical School, and Ferris State University the International Union of Operation Engineering Technical School. A maintenance repairman for Newark Public Library from 1987-2004, he previously worked at a stationary engineer for Bethlehem Steel in the Hoboken Shipyard, from1974 to 1982. Prior to that he worked for Continental & American Can Companies. He served as a radio repairman in the U.S. Army Signal Corps from 1951 to 1953.
He has run for a seat in the House of Representatives in 2002, 2004, and 2006. He has sought local office a number of times, including runs for commissioner in North Bergen, and even county executive and county sheriff.
During his career he has been extremely critical of dual office-holders and duel government jobs, and multiple pensions that result. This has put him frequently at odds with state Senator and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco.
Robert Thorne, truth seeker
Robert Thorne of Guttenberg last ran for office in 2013, when he sought to become lieutenant governor. His campaign slogan was “911 Truth Needed.” Torne was on the ticket headed by Jeff Boss, also of Guttenberg, with a Boss platform that questioned the role the National Security Agency might have had the 911 attacks in 2001.
Thorne also ran in the 2013 Democratic primary for council at large in Guttenberg on a platform that included the need for free ferry service to New York.
Olivera wants increased spending for education
Pablo Olivera previously ran for U.S. Senate in the 2013 special election on a platform called “Unity is Strength.” The Newark resident is pro choice and supports a large increase in spending for education, healthcare, environment and law enforcement, and a
slight increase for transportation infrastructure and social welfare programs.
He believes taxes should be increased on alcohol, cigarettes and corporations, with no increase on gas and oil or property, and a slight decrease in income taxes.
Olivera is running this year as an independent in the “Wake Up USA” party. He has a B.S. in Biology and Chemistry from Montclair State University, an M.P.A in Health Administration from Rutgers University, and a M.E. in Administration from Saint Peter’s College. He has worked as a general manager for Oswald Dental Lab, Inc. and as a teacher with Belleville Public Schools.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.