The 2024 primary election featured a rarely seen hotly contested congressional race that saw the incumbent win decisively, here are the biggest winners and losers from Hudson County.
WINNERS
Rob Menendez
The 8th District congressman withstood heavy shots from Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla related to his father’s corruption case and ended up with a double-digit statement win after 12 hard fought rounds.
The Hudson County-centric congressional seat could be his for a while, with a second term all but a sure thing with his sights set on Anthony Valdes for the November 5th general election.
North Hudson electeds
Led by state Senator (D-33)/Union City Mayor Brian Stack, who as usual led the county in voter turnout, Guttenberg, North Bergen, West New York, and Weehawken certainly did their part as well, with Menendez winning all five of those municipalities handily.
Bhalla barely registered at the polls in Union City and lost by about a 2-1 margin everywhere else. Clearly the county organizational lines were not a particularly huge deal up north.
Craig Guy
Along with Stack, the Hudson County executive was one of Menendez’s earliest supporters and he played a significant role in making sure the campaign ran like a well-oiled machine.
Later this month, he will be named the chair of the Hudson County Democratic Organization and it will be interesting to see how he runs the show.
Fred Esteves
West Hudson races often get forgotten about, but the brother-in-law of former longtime mayor turned Hudson County Superior Court Judge Al Santos defeated 3rd Ward Councilman Renata da Silva on Tuesday.
He will be favored in November, though whether he wins or loses, the 3rd Ward council seat will be up for grabs again next year.
LOSERS
Ravi Bhalla
The Hoboken mayor managed to raise a boat load of money and certainly wasn’t afraid to bite down on his mouth piece and swing, but he still came up well short of the victory here and burned a lot of bridges down to the ground in the process.
The next big question is whether or not he will run for a third term next year (he won the Mile Square City by about 20 points): If he ever seeks office again, the HCDO bigwigs will be coming for him early and often.
Renato da Silva
The appointed Kearny 3rd Ward councilman came up short at the polls, with Esteves’ support from Mayor Carol Jean Doyle – who sat in the 3rd Ward seat for nearly three decades – a bit too much to overcome.
He could decide to run again in 2025 when there is another Democratic primary in June.
Hoboken council allies of Bhalla
5th Ward Councilman Phil Cohen, Councilwoman-at-Large Emily Jabbour, Councilman-at-Large Joe Quintero, and Councilman-at-Large Jim Doyle put targets on their back by endorsing Bhalla for Congress.
Whether or not Bhalla runs for mayor next year, they will inevitably get caught in the crossfire of aggressive attacks from the HCDO in 2025.
Anyone who likes robust voter turnout
I say this basically every election cycle, but turnout as a whole was abysmal again, with turnout countywide currently sitting at just under 13 percent with 22 districts out of 466 still not reporting.
Even in a presidential year, granted with neither major candidate facing a serious challenge, it seems certain that less than 20 percent, possibly less than 15 percent, of registered voters in Hudson County felt compelled to cast a ballot in the primary.