Amy DeGise has come out blasting her opponents in the upcoming battle for the chair of the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO), the countywide political group, claiming that arms are being twisted and committee people are being intimidated.
DeGise is running against State Sen. and Union City Mayor Brian Stack to be chair of the organization.
Stack is backed by Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, and West New York Mayor Felix Roque.
While Stack can rely on the 78 committee people in Union City to vote his way on June 19, Hoboken, Jersey City and West New York are divided.
State Sen. and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco is supporting DeGise, which means North Bergen’s 72 committee votes will likely go where he tells them.
DeGise has gone public with accusations of intimation of committee people. Stack has flatly denied his side is doing it.
DeGise said some committee people in Jersey City are being asked to resign so that Fulop can replace them with pro-Stack people. She has called for a moratorium on new appointments retroactive to May 8.
She said she is trying to document these threats, with the potential to file a civil rights suit.
“Some of these people are senior citizens,” she said. “Mayor Fulop and his top aides are personally harassing current county committee members, trying to force them to sign legal documents resigning their seats so they can be replaced by other people who are willing to vote for Stack. This is a heavy-handed attempt to intimidate people and a clear violation of their civil rights.”
Both Stack and Fulop have denied this. Stack said he would not tolerate it. DeGise said in that case he should abide by the moratorium.
Who can get the majority vote?
To win the chair, a candidate must have 451 of the 900 votes throughout the county. With the June 12 election for the chair seen as too close to call, every vote counts.
In West New York, committee seats are up for election in the June 5 Democratic primary. This will account for another 58 committee votes a week later, so it is small wonder both sides are campaigning hard there. Rep. Albio Sires, who supports DeGise, has held several rallies.
Three of the five commissioners support DeGise as well, along with state Assembly members in the 32nd District.
Stack recently sent over more than 100 workers to help Roque’s slate of committee candidates. The pro-DeGise candidates are running on the official Democratic line, while Roque’s are not. But Stack is so popular in West New York he may be able to convince voters to support Roque’s candidates.
In Hoboken, many of the council members support DeGise, but Bhalla managed to remove Councilwoman Tiffianie Fisher as municipal Democratic chair. This may swing votes to Stack.
Stack won a significant victory this week when State Sen. Sandra Cunningham offered her support. She previously said she was going to stay out of the fight.
Secaucus Mayor Michael Gonnelli supports DeGise. But he is an independent. Democrats are angry at him for suppressing the party and could send a message with their committee votes in favor of Stack.
While the towns in western Hudson are supporting DeGise, they have too few numbers to make up the difference if Jersey City and Union City give Stack a majority vote.
Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis can make a huge difference if he brings to DeGise that city’s 102 committee votes. Those close to Davis believe they will be able to bring the majority to DeGise.
Getting committee people to the HCDO meeting on June 12 may be a problem, since it will be held in Kearny. Some of the people in towns like Bayonne and Hoboken may not show up, or not in time. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. and if you are not there by 7 p.m. the doors are locked and you’re not let in. You can guarantee Stack will get his people there. The question is whether DeGise will get her people there, too.
Bayonne’s rising political star
Neil Carroll III, grandson of former Freeholder Neil Carroll, apparently left a positive mark on the Bayonne municipal election in early May.
Carroll became one of the campaign strategists that helped Davis’ ticket rout a ticket led by former Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell.
Carroll was among the team that helped focus the Davis campaign on a 1st and 3rd Ward strategy that helped overcome O’Donnell’s strength in the 2nd Ward.
One of the poll workers said this week that she thought the mayoral election was going into a runoff because of the results from several key polling districts. But Davis’ campaign brought out more than enough voters in other areas of the city to make up for the loss.
Critics of O’Donnell claim he ran a campaign too similar to the campaign Mark Smith ran in 2014, making many of his moves predictable.
The O’Donnell campaign also was anti-development and abatement long before the negative effects of potential development actually occurred.
McCormick-Menendez debate scheduled in Jersey City
Democratic primary challenger Lisa McCormick, a newspaper publisher in central New Jersey, will take the stage with her rival, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, on June 1 in Jersey City. The event will be hosted by the Black Interest Team Enterprise (BITE), in the Landmark Loew’s Jersey Theater.
McCormick has been calling for the debate since she declared her challenge three months ago. Menendez initially resisted, then agreed.
“I suppose,” McCormick speculated on his reversal, “that [happened] with the release of an Eagleton poll that showed only 30 percent of Democrats express approval of his performance in office.”
The Eagleton Poll said Menendez’s approval was holding relatively steady at between 30 to 33 percent of the general public.
The low numbers have been attributed to the mistrial last year in which Menendez had been charged with corruption, and the more recent negative ruling by the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee.
“I am confident that my candidacy gives the other 70 percent a progressive Democratic alternative, and that my proposals for Medicare for All, military spending cuts, and more investments in the American people will appeal to Garden State voters,” McCormick said.
She believes a primary victory will demonstrate that she is a viable candidate against the GOP in November.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.
