What a difference 24 hours makes!
Let me break it down.
June 6th is New Jersey's Democratic Primary election day.
In general, voters tend to "vote down the line". The line on the ballot, that is.
That means, candidate "X" at the top is really pulling votes for the others below him, especially those at the very bottom of the line. So, that's why the scramble to be the slate of candidates on the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO) line, which generally runs the Dem party anointed candidate.
That means, candidate "X" at the top is really pulling votes for the others below him, especially those at the very bottom of the line. So, that's why the scramble to be the slate of candidates on the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO) line, which generally runs the Dem party anointed candidate.
On June 6th, Phil Murphy will top the "HCDO line" on our ballots.
Below Phil Murphy on our ballot, the 'HCDO line' candidates will include Legislative District 33 (LD-33) Senator Brian Stack, LD-33 Assembly candidates Annette Chapparo and Raj Mukherji, Freeholder Anthony Romano and the "Zimmer candidates" for the Hoboken Democratic Committee*.
Below Phil Murphy on our ballot, the 'HCDO line' candidates will include Legislative District 33 (LD-33) Senator Brian Stack, LD-33 Assembly candidates Annette Chapparo and Raj Mukherji, Freeholder Anthony Romano and the "Zimmer candidates" for the Hoboken Democratic Committee*.
*There are generally (2) Democratic Committee candidates per district- Hoboken has 40 districts.
Right now, the Russo slate is homeless.
That's why, according to InsiderNJ on April 6:
"Hoboken Councilman Michael Russo filed a slate of committee people bracketed with Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-19)"
Well...
Somebody on Team Russo ran to the media a little too fast because the next day a 'correction' was made on InsiderNJ :
"...Greg Minchak, spokesman for Wisniewski Campaign, said Wisniewski shut it down.
“Yesterday they reached out to us and we told them we didn’t want to bracket with them,” Minchak told InsiderNJ."
Of course, this public decline was avoidable if Team Russo had coordinated the media part with the getting-the-candidate's-approval part.
Unless there's a backstory...
Bad news for the those with a vested interest in the continuation corruption and political patronage in Hoboken. Good news for everyone else.
ReplyDeleteAfter seeing how Russo/Garcia/ Romano and their crew butchered the democratic process to hold on to the last shreds of their power after the last Committee election, it karma to see them struggling to even survive.
Just throw the Russo clan on the trash heap of irrelevancy.
ReplyDeleteThis is a big setback for the old guard but like are cockroaches...
ReplyDeleteThis may be a dumb question, so my apologies in advance, but what is all the hoopla over the Hoboken Democratic Committee? What is at stake? Thank you.
ReplyDeleteNo, it's not dumb at all-most people have no idea.
DeleteIn fact, I'll have a better answer when I post the Dem committee candidate lists, which I am waiting for.
To put it simply, the Hoboken Dem Committee can raise money and donate to Dem candidates and/or local races. So, the officers controlling the committee control the $. So, whoever gets the majority of the candidates-Russo or Zimmer- will choose the officers who, as I said, control the $. It's also symbolic of the "juice" of the respective political factions. I do think the politicos in Hoboken will be paying a lot of attention this year to see which faction wins the majority.
WRONG -- the by-laws were changed when Phil Cohen had the majori and cleaned up that mess.
DeleteIt would take a very large majority of the OG faction to win to reverse it.
It's unfortunate city employees were tasked with running around on the taxpayers dime calling people and asking them to run...
I never want any Russo in charge of anything ever again.
DeleteAfter the disgusting shit show they put on after the last Committee election and connected to so much corruption, how many times can some continue to make excuses and allowances for their bad behavior.
An inadvertent tribute to the late matriarch of the family. You can argue about objectives but not about her organizational skill and results.
ReplyDeleteA little early to bring up Mrs Russo no?
DeleteShe was someone's mother and grandmother.
Even if you were complimenting her ... backhandedly
I took it as a compliment, Anon 10:56. It is how we remember her. I suspect her family is proud of that.
DeleteOh come on - no one has ever doubted what a strong and effective political figure she was - just like Maurice. Both are actually missed by their constituents. I may not agree with their brand of politics, but give both props for their accomplishments. I did not take it as a backhanded comment at all.
DeleteIn recent years the old guard politicos have been steadily losing power in Hoboken.
ReplyDeleteRe-arranging the deck chairs on a sinking ship just gives you something to do until you drown. Just say'n
Agree with both. I can't imagine the outcome would be any different if Ma Russo was still alive. The political dynamics are shifting. With a reform type Gubernatorial candidate with HudCo support at the top of the bracket, and one who is close to Hoboken's mayor, I can't imagine even Michelle would have been able to secure a bracket. The Russo reputation is known far and wide and they don't stand a chance of getting support outside of their own HudCo. And clearly Romano is not working for them. So it's the bribe taking baby Russo (I had to re-watch myself on MSV - http://www.hobokenhorse.com/2011/04/mike-russos-corruption-turns-hoboken-on.html?m=1) having to fend for himself. Good luck! No one deserves good political things less than Mike Russo and his merry bandits.
DeleteSince zimmer has a huge Republican base as well as independents I think Russo's slate might pull this off even if they were on a column led by Bozo the clown ��
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Hear Beth Mason is financing the Russo slate.
DeleteHoboken elections are not partisan so there is no Democratic vs Republican.
DeleteMayor Zimmer a Democrat, has a huge voter base in Hoboken from both political parties because they see her as leading a coalition making the place where they live getting better and better.
The comment was more about the June primary and the committees. Agree that zimmer has broad support for her non-partisan election. However for the committee race at the primary - her broad base doesn't help unless they all decided to vote Democrat that day. Whereas Russo has his voter machine - which is all democrat - lined up and waiting to go vote. So even if Zimmer has a bigger slate, which we haven't confirmed yet, it will be more difficult for her to get the votes necessary to beat Russo's slate. In November election, her numbers are just much larger than those for any other candidate. And party doesn't matter.
DeleteWe shall see in June, but Russo couldn't get his vote out for the last BOE election and he and Romano had a clear line to focus his machine vote.
DeleteThe point about who votes in democratic primaries is well take - its the most favorable playing field the Russos have, and the least favorable playing field for Zimmer/reform. Reform's successes in other elections with broader electorates are completely irrelevant.
DeleteThe committee race will come down to 6 or 7 swing districts. It really doesn't matter how many candidates the Russos run. As long as they have 41 candidates running in districts that they either own or can compete in the contest will be competitive. Reform can't even be considered the favorite even with the party line, since the democratic primary is unlikely to be competitive enough to bring out many non-machine voters.
That is what the Russo machine thought was going to happen in last BOE election.
DeleteIt didn't.
Will Romano be out campaigning against his own party line ? ? ?
Ouch!
ReplyDeleteThis wont be a slam dunk for Reform/Zimmer slate. But Russo has got to be nervous given the shellacking they received during the board of ed election. If reform can get voters out again, then Russo/Mason will be left to paying to get their voters out. Which I cant image they want to do... I don't think Republican voters are the issue - I think I saw once that Hoboken has about 10% registered republicans in total. Its getting the unaffilateds to vote in the primary that the reform slate will have to do. Still though, will be fun to watch the Russo slate flounder and grovel and bribe their way back to a chance at relevancy.
ReplyDeleteZimmer should add Gregorio for Council at Large!
ReplyDeleteHe's a good guy
Delete