The 2023 general election is now finally in the books, so let’s take a look at the biggest winners and losers in Hudson County.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
WINNERS
Hudson County Democratic Organization
After a couple very tight races in the primary, the HCDO saw seven of their 10 county seats unopposed and the 31st District race for state Assembly was the only one where off the line challengers gave it a real shot in the legislative races.
They won every contested race in a blowout, with two new state senators, Angela McKnight, Raj Mukherji, now joining Brian Stack (along with five new Assembly members). There is also a new era with Craig Guy elected the next Hudson County executive.
Carol Jean Doyle
While it’s often easy to forgot about West Hudson, the now former Kearny council president is the first female mayor in town since 1938, an impressive feat by any metric.
After getting bucked by the Kearny Democratic party, Doyle ran as an independent and found a way to make it to the winner’s circle.
Hoboken City Council incumbents
Council members Tiffanie Fisher, Mike Russo, Ruben Ramos (he was unopposed), Phil Cohen, and Jen Giattino were all re-elected by double digit percentages, and while voter turnout was low, this indicates most people who went to the polls weren’t seeking change.
Fisher, Russo, and/or Ramos will be ramping up their efforts for a bid for mayor in 2025 sooner than later. A December 5th runoff between Paul Presinzano and Rafi Cordova will determine the next councilman in the 1st Ward.
Jersey City Education Association
The JCEA swept the Jersey City Board of Education race for the fourth year in a row, getting the latest incarnation of the “Education Matters” team elected against a “Children First” team that included two incumbents (they ran none).
Their support could go a long way in the 2025 municipal elections for mayor and city council.
LOSERS
Anyone who likes competitive elections
Again, the HCDO candidates in county and state races decimated what little competition there was and November elections will continue to be largely uneventful until primaries are more competitive. The phrase “the line always wins” certainly comes to mind here.
With the exception of Kearny, this election ended up being a predictable snoozefest, so it should come as no shock that voter turnout countywide was just a hair over 16 percent.
Hoboken City Council challengers/hopefuls
It was a rough night for anyone looking for their first term on the city council in the Mile Square City, with Leo Pellegrini, Marla Decker, Ed Reep, Liz Urtecho, Lauren Myers, and Ian Rintel (Decker and Myers were endorsed by Mayor Ravi Bhalla) losing decisively.
Reep got pummeled, losing by a margin of about 89 percent to 11 percent, and while Urtecho kept it within about 200 votes, she still lost by a little less than 13 percentage points.
Peter Santana
The acting mayor of Kearny only held that title for about five months, coming in third place in a three-person race despite having the endorsement of the HCDO and the Kearny Democratic Committee.
However, given that there will be another election in 2025 and the race was decided by less than 300 votes, he does have the opportunity for a do over if he wants one.
Michael Alonso
After winning a Bayonne school board race in 2017, Alonso lost his re-election bid in 2020 and came in a distant fourth place this time around in his comeback bid.
There field was unusually thin by Peninsula City standards, with just five candidates seeking three, three-year terms on the board and he missed a seat by just under 1,500 votes (the third place finisher received 2,578 votes and he received 1,010).
I disagree that Hoboken’s voters rejected change. I think they were demanding it. Voters see the mayor and his rubber stamps as the representative of the status quo not the independent incumbent council members. Mayor Bhalla’s candidates lost every ward. The only one who won was Phil Cohen and he won by less than any supposed “reform” candidate since Peter Cunningham in 2007. This ought to be a wake up call for Bhalla who would would’ve been creamed if he was on the ballot on Tuesday. He will not be unopposed again.
LOL!! Dude, when all incumbents win, it is literally the DEFINITION of rejecting change. Change is when sitting politicians lose, get replaced by a challenger.
You’re really not very good at this political hack spinning, maybe get a new hobby.
You know who agrees with what I wrote? Ravi Bhalla. He reportedly reamed out VJ on election night. VJ told Ravi Marla was 50/50 to win the 2nd. Ravi believed him.
Election Night, Hoboken:
R: You said Marla had an even chance of winning.
V: Hey, 1 out of 6 isn’t bad. How about a raise?
R: Ok, as long as you keep your mouth shut about that flier thing.
V: Thanks, when will I see it?
R: I have to clear it with Russo first. You failed me. You failed! You suck, you $#%Y#
Good times.
Yes, that’s right but Ravi has had his exit visa plan for some time. Back when he was a new councilman, he was already looking to get out of Hoboken municipal office. He came in as a councilman in 2009 and in 2011 he tried to escape running for Assembly.
In 2017, Dawn Zimmer handed him the baton detonating Hoboken Reform and the good government project. Now she regrets it but she knew, everyone knew Ravi was a problem and if the project was overturned due to a bad actor, it would be him. He’s been getting away with things for years, because, Ravi. Now he’s surrounded with bad actors mirroring him. Like this week with Bar Allen who just replaced a Hispanic woman in Assembly, because Ravi.
If the NJ Supreme Court had come out with its censure of Ravi for making his lawyer employee’s retirement fund monies disappear and refusing to give them back, he would have lost in 2017 too. But the decision issued came after the 2017 election.
The teacher’s union barely won. The top votergetter was with Fulop and the HCDO not the teacher’s union. They picked her because they couldn’t get enough petitions. They only needed ten.