Runoff? What runoff? Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy won re-election outright on Tuesday night by grabbing more than 53 percent of all votes cast, earning himself another four more years in office. If he had won less than 50 percent of the vote, he would have had to enter a June 9 runoff with his nearest opponent, former Assemblyman Louis Manzo, who amassed roughly half of the votes Healy got.
With all votes except provisional last-minute ballots, which were being counted as of Friday, Healy, 58, came in with 16,736 votes, while Manzo received 8,316. Finishing in third place was Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith with 4,044, followed by Dan Levin with 1,732 and Phil Webb with 716. Provisional ballots (those challenged at the polling place) were not significant enough to affect the ultimate result.
With the city’s murder rate up and taxes also rising, how did the mayor win such a landslide? Part of it may have been the money, his opponents said.
Healy was able to amass a $3 million election war chest, spending an average of $179 per vote. Manzo didn’t even come close, only spending $500,000.
Several of Healy’s critics also lamented the lack of turnout on Election Day. Approximately 31,000 people cast votes for mayor, a mere 25 percent of the 120,132 registered voters in Jersey City. Low turnout tends to favor the incumbent, because his voter base usually comes through for their candidate.
Then again, maybe the public didn’t think Healy has done such a bad job.
That was the perspective of local cable TV personality and Healy critic Pat O’Melia, who was surprised by the result.
O’Melia has been friends with Healy for about 30 years, but they have not been on speaking terms for over a year. O’Melia had predicted a runoff between Healy and Manzo or Smith.
“I am not smarter than 16,000 people, and they have spoken,” O’Melia said last week. “I will be doing a show to reevaluate if the past four years of Healy as mayor was not as bad as some members of the media made it out to be.”
Healy’s opponents seemed dejected and shocked by the results last week, with some even doubting their future in politics.
“I was disappointed with the results, since I talked to so many people during the campaign and they expressed discontent with how the city was running,” Smith said. “Obviously, that wasn’t the case when it came to the votes.”
Smith said he isn’t sure of his future plans, except to finish his term in the state Assembly representing the 31st District.
“I’m 60 years old, and what market is there for me?” Smith said. “Right now, I am still trying to deal with a loss that I can never quite accept.”
One longtime Jersey City election strategist said the Healy campaign had hoped for a voter turnout of less than 35,000, since a larger amount could have increased the odds of a runoff, with more independents and anti-Healy people potentially voting.
Tuesday night
Healy has served as mayor since 2004, the year he won a special election to fill the unexpired term of the late Glenn D. Cunningham, who had died suddenly of a heart attack in office. In 2005, Healy was elected to a full term.
“Frankly, I am honored and humbled by the turnout today.” – Jerramiah Healy
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Tuesday night, Gov. Jon Corzine, Rep. Albio Sires, and State Sen. Sandra Cunningham looked on at the mayor’s Election Night victory party at Casino-In-The-Park in Jersey City’s Lincoln Park. At the event, Healy credited his victory to his election fund and a hardworking campaign team.
“We kind of expected this a little bit,” Healy said. “Frankly, I am honored and humbled by the turnout today.”
Healy allies were also successful running for at-large and ward council seats, winning the three citywide at-large seats and Wards B, C, and D (see sidebar). Ward E, the downtown Jersey City seat, was won by the incumbent and Healy critic Steven Fulop.
Fulop has a high profile and had considered running for mayor before deciding to try to keep his seat.
There will be runoff elections in Wards A (the city’s Greenville section) and F (covering the city’s Bergen-Lafayette section) on June 9 because Ward A incumbent Michael Sottolano and Ward F incumbent Viola Richardson each received less than 50 percent of the vote. The second-place challenger in Ward F had yet to be determined as of Friday according to the Hudson County Board of Elections, with only one vote separating Manzo team candidate Ron-Calvin Clark and independent candidate Lavern Webb Washington in Ward F. In Ward A, Sottolano will face Manzo candidate Rolando Lavarro in the runoff election.
The other contenders
Louis Manzo looked back the day after the election and felt “frustration” with an “apathetic” populace.
“The amount of problems that this city has with the violence and the rising taxes is undisputable,” Manzo said. “And yet, a vast majority of the electorate chose not to participate.”
Manzo continued, “We were getting positive feedback while campaigning, but that didn’t translate to people getting out and vote.”
Manzo took aim at activists in the city. He said that some individuals who approached him during the campaign about their specific issue, but they said they could not vote for him, citing their involvement with their respective non-profit group.
He said those activists, whom he referred to as “complainers and frustrators,” should look to his mayoral opponent Dan Levin as an example of an activist who found a way to also be politically involved.
Manzo said he doesn’t know if he will run for mayor again or for another political office.
Manzo said he spent $500,000 on his campaign, an average of $60 per vote.
Levin said he stepped down from the boards of the various organizations he was a part of before he officially announced his candidacy for mayor last August. For Levin, who spent $6 per vote, he didn’t see his results as a loss, only a gain.
“I was asked about doing a concession speech and I said I wasn’t giving one,” Levin said. “I am very pleased with the percentage, considering our strengths and weaknesses. But also, we had approached the election as community building in order to mentor regular people to run for office, and we think we were successful in that respect.”
Levin said he will run again for mayor or City Council in 2013.
“It was exhausting yet wonderful,” Levin said. “Yet I am inspired to run again and build a broader base in the community.”
L. Harvey Smith said he was in “a state of shock” from the results of the election, especially the low turnout.
Candidate Phil Webb, a city police detective, said looking back, he thinks it was “disappointing” how Healy used the image of President Barack Obama during his campaign and put out a commercial made to look like Obama endorsed Healy when it was the other way around.
“A friend of mine told me his wife told him she chose to vote for Healy because of his relationship with Obama,” Webb said.
Yet, Webb does not envy Healy for his win but instead will pray for the mayor, whom he sees as having a “tough job” in the next four years. That is apropos of a man studying for the seminary.
As for future political endeavors, Webb would not rule out the possibility. His only plan now is to continue working as a detective in the Jersey City Police Department, which he may do for another two years, and take a much-needed vacation in the near future to the Bahamas with his wife.
Bucking the establishment again
Running independently, Councilman Fulop won in a landslide over four other contenders in Ward E, which encompasses all of downtown. His 63 percent of the vote beat the next finisher, Healy-backed Guy Catrillo by 41 percentage points. Fulop had also won his first term in 2005 as an independent.
Fulop, known for his consistent criticism of the mayor’s policies, actually earned some praise from Healy on Election Night.
Fulop said he wants to work with Healy and the City Council but “will still criticize Healy when it is warranted.”
He said his own accomplishments in office had helped him get re-elected, such as pushing for security cameras on new developments in downtown, advocating pay-to-play reform, and asking for lead testing of children in preschools.
“I will continue to work within the system to get things done for my constituents downtown,” Fulop said. “But I will criticize the mayor and the City Council if they don’t do the right thing, and compliment when they do the right thing.”
As for Mayor Fulop in 2013, Fulop said “I don’t know” – and then gave what he called a “political answer.”
“We are not going to take our eyes off what we have to do in the next four years,” Fulop said. “The way I look at it is, we will do a hell of a job for the people downtown, and that I can promise you.”
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonrreporter.com.
Other wins
There were other interesting City Council victories Tuesday night.
In Ward B (covering much of the city’s West Side), first-time candidate Phil Kenny, with backing by Healy and Hudson County Freeholder Bill O’Dea, won by 900 votes over second place finisher Mike Manzo.
In Ward C (the Journal Square area), another first-timer, Nidia Lopez, won what some considered the surprise victory of the election when she beat five other candidates, including the prohibitive favorite Jimmy King.
In Ward D (Jersey City Heights), Councilman Bill Gaughan was re-elected for a record fifth term in a tough battle against challenger Jim Carroll.
In the citywide council-at-large race with 13 candidates, Healy runningmates Mariano Vega, Peter Brennan and Willie Flood won re-election as well. – RK