Voting on Tuesday, what fascinated me was that it felt like a general election. Beside each office, state legislator, state Senate, et al, were multiple columns of candidates. Each column was labelled with the name of the slate of candidates-- the machine (Hudson County Democratic Organization) in Column A, the reformers (I think Dems for Better Hudson County) in Column B, and some stray folks with their own name in Column C. You could vote individually, but probably like most folks, I just flipped the switches for all the reform Dems in Column B.
And they seemed to have edged their way to victory.
On the why run in the Dem primary, nothing seems more convincing than a place where you can give your slate its own name and identity and get your own column to have party loyalists pull. It just seems crazy that the Greens and Socialist Party who run statewide candidates in NJ don't run slates in primaries in places like Hudson County where they could probably be listed on the ballot.
-- Nathan Newman
Doria got the vote out, but may lose Trenton job
Thursday, June 05, 2003
By Ronald Leir Journal staff writer
He had the money, he had the campaign workers and he had the high-powered connections, but he could lose his Assembly seat.
Bayonne Mayor Joseph V. Doria Jr.'s 24-year career in the Legislature, which included a two-year stint as Assembly speaker in the early 1990s, may have ended Tuesday night in a stunning upset - although he hasn't conceded the race, and a recount seemed inevitable today as Hudson County election officials continued counting vote tallies from Tuesday's Democratic primary.
But the unofficial results give the edge to the candidates on Row B - the slate led by state Senate candidate Glenn D. Cunningham, the Jersey City mayor - and appear to show Louis Manzo edged out Doria in a close race for the second Assembly seat in the 31st District.
Bayonne Councilman-at-Large Anthony Chiappone appears to be the clear winner for the district's other Assembly seat.
Ironically, Doria and his Row A Assembly running mate, Elba Perez-Cinciarelli, handily swept the Bayonne portion of the district by an average margin of 21/2-to-1 - but Jersey City voters, who comprise the majority of the district, apparently voted in strong enough numbers to send the renegade Dems to state office.
Assessing the vote early yesterday, Doria preferred to focus on the Bayonne vote.
"In Bayonne, I beat him by 3,300 votes and Elba won by between 2,400 and 2,500," Doria said. "I believe I ran an exceptional race in Bayonne.
"More than 8,700 Democratic voters turned out - more than 50 percent of the registered Democratic voters in this city, and that's the highest for a primary election since the 1980s. In Bayonne, we did exactly what we had to do."
So what went wrong?
"Glenn's got a lot of pressure points and he had much greater (name) recognition factor," and "Chiappone ran on the coattails of the Jersey City mayor," Doria said.
Chiappone said that campaigners - and Manzo in particular - going door-to-door instead of relying on mailings and radio spots to carry their message, Cunningham's popularity in Jersey City and a backlash against "negative ads by the Democratic organization" all made the difference for the Row B candidates.
If he is edged out, Doria predicted that Bayonne would "lose its influence with the Legislature."
"It will be much more difficult for a freshman legislator to leverage for grants for the city," Doria said. "I just hope the Legislature will still be
responsive to us."
Doria's campaign literature boasted that during his Assembly tenure, Doria has been able to secure huge amounts of state funding for the district.
Doria served as Assembly speaker in 1990 and 1991, and helped push through former Gov. Jim Florio's tax increases. After the resulting tax revolt, Doria found himself the minority leader for nearly a decade.
In 2000, Democrats recaptured the Assembly on the strength of James E. McGreevey's election as governor, but Doria's hopes to return as speaker were dashed when McGreevey picked Albio Sires of West New York.
Two Bayonne City Council members - Ted Connolly of the First Ward and John Halecky of the Second Ward - also voiced concerns that Bayonne could suffer without Doria in the Assembly.
Connolly said: "Joe has a powerful position in Trenton because of his longevity, experience and his wonderful relationship with both Democrats and Republicans, and New Jersey Monthly rated him the most astute in getting things accomplished."
But Chiappone shrugged off the gloom and doom predictions.
"Mayor Doria started new (in the Legislature) at one time and became effective, and I believe the same thing will happen with me," the two-term councilman said. "I can build relationships (with fellow lawmakers) and I'll have two years to prove whether I'm suited for the job. The proof will be in the pudding."
To help deliver on that promise, Chiappone pledged to "close my (Broadway photo studio) business, come Jan. 1, assuming a victory in November (in the general election), and become a full-time assemblyman."
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