If you didn’t think retaining U.S. Senator Robert Menendez’s seat was important to the Democratic National Committee, think again. It appears that Hillary Clinton is coming to Jersey City in mid-October for a high priced fundraiser.
Projections for the mid-term elections for House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate are almost too close to call. The GOP currently controls the House by a substantial margin, but has a razor thin majority in the Senate. Democrats are looking to retake control of the House as has become tradition for the minority party in mid-term. This is aided by a number of GOP retirements. The Senate, however, is a tough fight even if the numbers are close. For the national party, losing in New Jersey could be devastating.
Menendez showed weakness in the June Democratic Primary when an underfunded Lisa McCormick took a sizable chunk of the vote. GOP candidate Bob Hugin has been trying to exploit this weakness, harping on the federal mistrial Menendez survived last year. Hugin hopes to paint Menendez with the same “corruption brush” Christopher Christie successfully used against Democrats when winning as governor in 2009.
Menendez has struck back focusing on Hugin’s career as a pharmaceutical executive and the massive settlement paid in a lawsuit from when Hugin still was employed.
But Menendez has other problems in this election, money problems. Hugin is throwing tons of money into the election that even the well-oiled Menendez fundraising machine can’t keep up with.
So enter Clinton stage right. If there is anything Clinton has proven she can do, it is raise money. During her presidential bid in 2016, her machine was able to bolster the national party’s finances.
The $5,400 per ticket fundraiser is scheduled to take place downtown Jersey City and is expected to draw some of the most powerful Democratic supporters in the region. It is also expected to draw protestors from Menendez’s GOP and Green Party opponents.
One of the protestors will be Green Party Senatorial Candidate Madelyn Hoffman, who sees both Bob Hugin and Bob Menendez as two sides of the same coin. While Hugin may have his roots in the pharmaceutical industry, Menendez appears to be courting medical insurance as well as a company that is behind a gas pipe line in Western New Jersey.
Hoffman, who had to resign her position with a non-profit peace and environmental group to run for Senate, hopes to position herself between the two Bobs as a moderate alternative.

Rally outside a rally

While the Hudson County Democratic Organization threw its support behind Menendez at a large rally on Sept. 6 at the Liberty House in Jersey City, Hoffman was outside in the hot sun with a number of protestors, rallying against the immigration contract Hudson County for holding detainees.
While Menendez has been a vocal critic of ICE, Hoffman believes he hasn’t done enough to pressure his Democratic colleagues in Hudson and Essex counties to stop cooperating with federal policies that incarcerate immigrants.
In a state where money and power politics generally wins the day for a candidate, Hoffman may be a long shot. But many people said similar things about McCormick’s chances last June, and then had to eat their words when the votes for her started piling in.
Bringing in Clinton, of course, might be seen as overkill in an election Democrats would normally take for granted as in the bag. But it is also a sign that Menendez’s reelection team may not as optimistic privately as they seem at public rallies.
But Hudson County itself appears to be coming together on his behalf with nearly every political boss in the county standing on stage with him including State Senators Brian Stack and Nicholas Sacco, as well as the newly elected HCDO Chair, Amy DeGise, Gov. Phil Murphy and others.
Stack called the recent dispute over the HCDO chair “a family dispute,” and that when it comes down to protecting Menendez, everybody in on the same page – well, maybe not everybody.
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop and West New York Mayor Felix Roque did not attend the Sept. 6 event, suggesting they have become outcasts on the political landscape.
Fulop and Roque were both part of a move to dump County Executive Tom DeGise earlier this year, in what some see as one of the worst blunders in Hudson County’s long political history. But then Stack was part of that team, as was Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, who are not outcasts.
Many believe Roque will not survive next year’s municipal election as DeGise, Sacco, Rep. Albio Sires and others support a challenge against him. While Jersey City municipal elections are still three years ago, the HCDO is already looking ahead for alternatives to Fulop.
“Believe me we can come up with a few quality candidates to run,” said Craig Guy, chief of staff to Tom DeGise.

Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.

One of the biggest ironies in the 2018 election for New Jersey’s U.S. senate seat is how similar the contest looks to the 2002 election, when U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli backed out a month before the general election.
Today, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez’s poll numbers in the state are dismal, with less than a third of those polled showing confidence in him.
The poll numbers have prompted his Democratic primary opponent Lisa McCormick to ask whether voters want her to beat Menendez in the primary, or wait until November when a Republican might.
This is a nightmare for the national Democratic Party, which is seeking to regain control of the U.S. Senate and needs to retain Menendez’s seat.
The poll numbers are very similar to those that Torricelli had when he ran for reelection in 2002. Many people still believe Torricelli would have lost in the general election.
Menendez may face the same problems in the general election if the polls remain as low as they are.
You can bet if Menendez wins over McCormick, the GOP will start bashing Menendez right away to try and depress his poll numbers even more.
McCormick clearly believes Menendez has been weakened by the corruption case brought against him last year by the U.S. Department of Justice. A hung jury of 10 to 2 in favor of acquittal resulted in a mistrial. When prosecutors sought to retry the case earlier this year, the judge threw out seven of the most serious charges, saying the feds had failed to prove their case during the original trial. The Justice Department then chose not to pursue the case, leaving Menendez to run for re-election bruised but not broken.
For national Democrats who will have to ride whatever horse comes out of the June 5 primary, the issue is bigger than loyalty to a once-powerful senator. At stake is the makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court. Anthony Kennedy, 81, is rumored to be considering retirement. He has been a key swing vote on a number of issues. Even if he holds on for another term, Democrats will need control of the U.S. Senate in order to block the GOP from appointing a much more conservative judge to the court over the next two years.
Unfortunately, Democrats do not have another Frank Lautenberg to step in and run in Menendez’s place, the way they did with Torricelli.
Ironically, Torricelli is one of the people who had hoped to replace Menendez if the court had convicted him last year.

Who has motivation in county political war?

The challenge for the two people seeking to become the next chair of the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO) is whether they can get their committee people out to Kearny High School on June 12.
Amy DeGise is seeking to keep state Senator and Union City Mayor Brian Stack from getting the seat.
The chair of the HCDO will have a huge influence over future candidates, including who will get HCDO support in next year’s election for county executive.
DeGise’s father, Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise, is a five-term incumbent and is seeking reelection. Stack, along with the mayors of Hoboken, Jersey City and West New York, want someone else.
Amy and her father appear to have the support of the other eight mayors of Hudson County towns. But with Jersey City and Union City as the largest cities, Stack has a presumed edge – if Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop can garner the Jersey City committee votes on behalf of Stack.
Stack supporters in Jersey City believe they will be able to bring a large majority of the Jersey City committee votes to Stack and that the selection will not be close.
But others believe Jersey City will not come out for Stack in the numbers Stack needs for a clear majority.
Stack has the support of Freeholder Bill O’Dea on the West Side of Jersey City and state Senator Sandra Cunningham on the southside. But DeGise has received support from Freeholder Jerry Walker, who has a huge presence in recreation and other programs. Cunningham is powerful, but some say she’s not been out in the field working to secure committee votes for Stack.
To be elected chair, DeGise or Stack must get a majority of the committee votes cast on June 12. There are 900 total committee votes throughout the county. Jersey City has the vast majority, with slightly more than a third of the total for the county.
Union City has about 78; North Bergen – which is expected to come out for DeGise – has about 74.
West New York is expected to be split between DeGise and Stack.
“Stack is working West New York very hard to get his committee votes there,” said a north Hudson observer.
While Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla supports Stack, most of the Hoboken city council does not.
“I think most Hoboken committee people will stay home and not vote at all,” said one Hoboken observer. “They really have nothing to gain.”
Stack’s strong supporter on the city council is Michael Russo, who generally gets out his vote.
Bhalla apparently has been actively campaigning
Bayonne with its 102 committee votes could play a big role in a DeGise victory if they can get them to Kearny in time for the vote.
Committee people, unlike those elected to public office, generally have jobs they have to get from, and many may not be able to get to Kearny in time.
O’Dea and Stack will likely bus committee people there. Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis is expected to do the same.

Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.

A 1972 song by Ricky Nelson, “Garden Party,” fit the tone of a recent event at Hot House in Hoboken, since nearly everybody who was anybody politically was there –anybody, I mean, who is anti-Councilman Michael DeFusco. And it also happened to take place mostly in the garden behind the shop.
What should have been a sad occasion on June 18 turned out to serve as a venue for political intrigue, as political players gathered to mark the closing of the store after seven years and to plot DeFusco’s political demise.
Karen Nason, who ran for mayor of Hoboken last year, hosted the party that included people like blogger Nancy Pincus (without her political horse, who has since become a political persona non grata among the Bhalla-allied side of reform.)
The crowd included people who in the past might have been seen as political enemies, old and new Hoboken, hobnobbing with a common purpose.
Nason did not shed any tears over the closing of the business or even her political loss last November. She is already looking ahead to a future and a more ambitious project that could bring a major music venue back to Hoboken. In fact, the party partly served as a fundraiser for the future endeavor, the details of which she will release shortly when all the I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed.
Nason, being a performer as well as a politician, could not resist jumping behind the microphone to give her guests a few renditions of classic blues/rock/pop tunes, while around her political people buzzed with renditions of their own, questioning each other as to how to push DeFusco out as 1st Ward Councilman in the 2019 election when his term expires.
Nason comes off just a little bit like Mata Hari in all this, although Mae West might fit her better, since coincidentally she is reviving a West production at a New York venue shortly, based on a production that got West busted in certain places, including Jersey City.
West, like Nason, was not shy about provoking people to think, whether through art or through politics. But Nason generally avoids openly plotting the way some of her guests did.
DeFusco appears to be still campaigning even after his failed attempt to win as mayor in a five-way race against Ravi Bhalla (the eventual winner). Perhaps DeFusco senses his vulnerability since he single-handedly managed to do what nobody thought possible – unite factions of born-and-raised Hobokenites with newcomers.
Many of those who attended the event – including the always controversial Pincus – seemed to lean towards backing a run by former 1st Ward Councilwoman Terry Castellano whom DeFusco beat in 2015. At that time, he had support from allies of Mayor Dawn Zimmer and Bhalla.
Castellano, who was at the festivities as well, said she was considering the idea, and believes that many of the people who helped DeFusco previously won’t be backing him again next year.
DeFusco, after running originally on the reform ticket, appeared to switch sides for his mayoral run, backed heavily by Old Hoboken Councilman Ruben Ramos.
Castellano is rumored to be seeking the support of Bhalla if and when she challenges DeFusco.
Whether she approached Bhalla (who was also supposed to attend) is uncertain. But she apparently intends to broach the subject with him soon.
But the crowd included a number of ex-patriots from all sides of the political spectrum, some of whom were one-time DeFusco allies.
Four years ago, the idea that Castellano would be seeking an alliance with Bhalla would have been unheard of. But this is the new reality in Hoboken, where old alliances appear to no longer count and people are seeking to build new ones.
Castellano joins Councilman Michael Russo and Freeholder Anthony Romano in stepping over the line to join with people they previously opposed.
DeFusco, of course, has a strong ally in Ramos. But this may not be enough to get him reelected.
Hoboken has become politically fractured in new ways as a result of the mayoral election. So, the city is no longer just born-and-raised vs. newcomer, but a three-way split composed of the DeFusco/Ramos faction, the Bhalla faction, and a faction that includes Councilmembers Jen Giattino, Peter Cunningham, and Tiffanie Fisher, all of whom are up for reelection next year.
Giattino’s poor showing running for mayor last year suggests that she and her allies may be vulnerable unless they can find a powerful political friend.
But Bhalla, who was part of the recent failed attempt to take over the Hudson County Democratic Organization, may see powerful out-of-town political forces such as state Senator and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco working against him, the way Sacco is expected to work against West New York Mayor Felix Roque (a Bhalla ally) next year. Can Bhalla rely on help from state Sen. and Union City Mayor Brian Stack to counter this?
Giattino, Cunningham, and Fisher apparently wanted to build a relationship with County Executive Tom DeGise and have laid claim to bringing as many as 20 committee votes to Tom’s daughter, Amy DeGise, in Amy’s recent successful bid to become HCDO chair. But some question whether they actually brought those votes to the table. They also have a problem in that DeFusco appears to have a strong relationship with Sacco (and therefore the HCDO).

Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.