Hudson County helped Hillary Clinton handily defeat U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders to win the Democratic presidential nomination on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Donald Trump continued his victory at the Republican side of the polls.
The election was not without the political shenanigans for which Hudson County has become known. Before the election last week, fake sample ballots appeared on people’s doorsteps in Hudson County with Clinton’s opponents, including Sanders, removed. Most of these were distributed in North Hudson where Democrats made a concerted effort to reach Latino voters.
The fake ballot was a copy of the one mailed to residents. It was put onto people’s doorsteps, but was not mailed to homes the way legitimate sample ballots are.
In Jersey City, 19,786 voters came out for Clinton, according to unofficial results from the county clerk’s office. 9,636 voted for Sanders and 1,568 went for Trump.
The vote was likely influenced by the fact that Clinton and Trump had all but clinched the nomination going into the race.
Nearby, in Hoboken, Clinton got 4,432 votes, Sanders got 2,328, and Trump got 665.
Chelsea helps out
On June 6, the day before the Democratic primary, the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO ) brought Chelsea Clinton, Hillary’s daughter, to speak in a North Bergen housing authority building before a largely Latino audience.
“We’re looking to reach those voters called Reagan Democrats.” – Jose Arango
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While her appearance was accompanied by U.S. Senators Robert Menendez and Cory Booker, as well as Assembly Speaker and HDCO Chairman Vincent Prieto and Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise, most of the Democratic leadership from elsewhere in the county did not attend.
California and New Jersey
Even without the controversial superdelegates dedicated to supporting her, Clinton succeeded in beating Sanders in two critical states on June 7, California and New Jersey. While her numbers were lower than those she earned in those states in 2008, the victories removed all doubt about her candidacy, allowing her to secure the necessary number of elected delegates to win the party nomination. She was able to emerge victorious without the questionable superdelegates having to decide in her favor.
Primary results after the polls closed were largely predictable in a Democratic-dominated county. While Sanders had pockets of support in particular sections of Hoboken and Jersey City, Clinton was strong throughout the county, officials said.
Numbers by town were not available at press time Friday.
Local Republican strategy
Unchallenged, Donald Trump also won in Hudson County in the Republican primary, but local party officials are playing his role down. “Trump has to tone down his rhetoric if we are to succeed here the way we did when Ronald Reagan took 40 percent of the vote in the county,” said Hudson County Republican Chairman Jose Arango last week. “Trump is not Reagan. Under Reagan, we were a party of inclusion. In Hudson County, we still are.”
The Republican strategy against Clinton will be to continue to tie her to current Democratic President Barack Obama and his policies. “Obama is paying more attention to normalizing relations with Cuba than he is to places like Puerto Rico, which is going broke,” Arango said.
This is a message Arango said Republicans hope to bring to Spanish-speaking parts of Hudson County, including the perceived Democratic strongholds in North Bergen, Union City, and West New York.
To this end, Arango said, the Republican candidate for the House of Representatives in the 8th District, Agha Khan, sends a loud message, a candidate with deep roots in the Latino community.
Khan received just over 3,600 votes in the Republican primary and will face off against incumbent Democratic Rep. Albio Sires, who won his re-nomination with nearly 32,000.
Arango said the Republicans hope to tap into those dissatisfied with Democratic leadership.
“We’re looking to reach those voters called Reagan Democrats,” he said, and believes there is a deep well of dissatisfaction in places like Bayonne, Kearny, North Bergen, and sections of Jersey City.
“Maybe people hate Hillary,” Arango said. “But our presidential candidate can’t seem extreme. He can’t be rash or jump to decisions.”
If the national party can tone down Trump, Arango believes Republican can tap the anti-Clinton vote and possibly repeat Reagan-era successes. During the Reagan campaigns, Republicans manage to take enough votes in Hudson County to off set the Democratic vote and allow Republican districts to win the state.
Clinton needs to win New Jersey if she hopes to become president.
Other primary races in Hudson County
Surprising no one, Democrats endorsed by the HCDO won in the other seats on local and federal levels, including the House of Representatives, the Hudson County sheriff, and the Hudson County register.
Sires was the overwhelming victor for the Democratic nomination over Elizabeth-teacher Eloy Delgado. Sires will face off against Khan in November.
Hudson County voters also supported Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. in the 9th District and Rep. Donald Payne Jr. in the 10th district, both of whom ran unopposed. They will be challenged by Republicans Hector L. Castillo (9th) and David H. Pinckney (10th).
With 70 percent of the vote, Hudson County Sheriff Frank Schillari held off a challenge in the Democratic primary from Andrea Espinal of North Bergen. Republican Mark Borchert will challenge Schillari in November.
Jersey City Councilwoman Diane Coleman beat Democrats Moses Salem and Esmeralda Trinidad to win the Democratic nod for the county register seat. She will be challenged by Republican Omar Salgado in the November.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.