What Democrats for Hudson County lacked in name recognition, they made up for in enthusiasm as they gathered at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial in Lincoln Park on April 4 to unveil their ticket for county and legislative seats in the June 5 Democratic Primary.
The group, led by State Assemblyman and Union City Mayor Brian Stack and Assemblyman Louis Manzo, has mounted a countywide challenge to slates put up by the Hudson County Democratic Organization.
This move by the alternative Democrats for Hudson County is considered the most significant challenge to HCDO dominance in decades and promises a heated election.
Stack said he believed that the HCDO would mount a very negative election in order to maintain its hegemony over the Democratic Party.
Although the event unveiled tickets for legislators to the state Senate and state Assembly in three Hudson County legislative districts as well a county executive, county clerk and county sheriff, voters in the 31st District were being asked to support a slate of candidates with several largely unfamiliar names.
The 31st District includes all of Bayonne and southern Jersey City, and is seen as one of the most hotly contested of the district elections.
Manzo, who is running for the state Senate seat being vacated by state Senator Joseph Doria, will head a ticket that includes Nicholas Chiaravalloti and Shelia Newton-Moses for the two Assembly seats.
This ticket also includes Noemi Velazquez running for county executive, incumbent Joseph Cassidy for sheriff, and Acting County Clerk Mary Jane Desmond for county clerk.
Opposing them on the HCDO ticket are Sandra Cunningham for state Senate, Bayonne Councilman Anthony Chiappone and former Jersey City Council President L. Harvey Smith for assembly. The HCDO is also supporting incumbent County Executive Tom DeGise for re-election, Barbara Nechert for Hudson County clerk and Juan Perez for Hudson County sheriff.
Presenting an alternative vision
Acting as master of ceremonies for the Democrats for Hudson County was Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner.
“These candidates came together to meet the growing demands of our ever-growing diverse communities,” he said. “This ticket represents change and the people of Hudson County will benefit from this change.”
Rep. Albio Sires introduced each of the candidates, giving a brief appraisal of their contributions to the ticket.
For Stack and Manzo, Sires described them as two of the hardest working legislators in Trenton.
Stack in his turn described this primary battle is about “defeating the political bosses.”
“This is about making the Democratic Party about the people, not about the machine,” he said. “This is not about a few people in a backroom making decisions. We are putting the people first.”
Stack called Manzo “one of the best legislators in Hudson County,” and said this team’s campaign was about “honest, sincerity and integrity.”
Manzo in his part made reference to that statue of Lincoln and compared this team’s struggle to the fight Lincoln led against tyranny.
“Today, we set sail on a similar mission to end politics that has stained Hudson County voter,” he said, calling the upcoming primary “a battle of liberation in Hudson County politics.”
“Those who divide the community and choose hatred as their mantel to not deserve to represent any community,” Manzo said. “While they (his opponents) keep people apart, we keep them together; while they tear down, we build up; while they offer dismay and they offer not hope, we offer a future for every child, senior citizen and homeless person in this community in that a better day his coming.”
Newton-Moses has been deeply involved with local issues, Manzo said in introducing her.
Newton-Moses, Manzo said, helped shape some of the educational legislation he sponsored in the state Assembly.
“She is a very outspoken woman,” Manzo said. “She is independent, fresh and feisty.”
While Newton-Moses admitted she was new to politics, she said she was not a newcomer when it came to the issues.
“I’ve been beaten up. But I’m a fighter. I’m like Rocky,” she said, referring to the movie boxer portrayed by Sylvester Stallone. “It is not how much you punch or how much people punch you, but how many times you get up and punch back.”
While Stack said people should expect a nasty campaign, Newton-Moses said people should not tolerate such a campaign.
“People should not sit by and have the county dragged into the mud,” she said. “People should look at the issues, who has the passion, and who will answer the telephone once the campaign is over.”
Chiaravalloti, who left his post as U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez’s state director to run with this ticket, said this new ticket gives voters in Hudson County a choice between change and the status quo.
“If you are frustrated with your property taxes increasing each year, with the impossibly high cost of health care, with the gang violence on our streets, with the threatened bankruptcy of local hospitals and with so much more, then you and I have something to talk about,” he said. “This election is simple. This election is about who can get the job done in Trenton and deliver for Bayonne and Jersey City. This election is about who has the compassion, the integrity and the moral character to represent all the people of our community.”
Mary Jane Desmond, a former council person in Bayonne and currently servicing as acting county clerk, said, “I know these are public servants and public advocates.”
Cassidy, who has served as Hudson County sheriff for 12 years, said this election is more than just about working hard, it is about offering services, and maintained that law enforcement and attention to rising crime in Jersey City has to be part of the focus.
Velazquez, who currently serves as a special assistant to the superintendent of Jersey City schools, said, “I believe we have a new day ahead of us, not just for a few, but for all of us. When I am executive, those doors will be open to all people in Hudson County.”