Outgoing Assemblyman Carmelo Garcia (D-33) will be challenging Hoboken Ward 6 Councilwoman Jen Giattino in the November 3 election, set to kickoff his election campaign early next month.Â
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Garcia, who told Hudson County View he would “focus on the local city council races” in March after getting unceremoniously kicked off the line by the Hudson County Democratic Organization, has posted a public event on Facebook that says he will announce his candidacy on August 5.
The event will take place at 6:30 p.m. in front of the Hoboken Public Library, located at 500 Park Ave.
Giattino, a former council president, is a registered Republican who was elected to the council in May 2011. She worked on Wall Street for over a decade prior to running for office.
Garcia, a Democrat, is a lifelong Hoboken resident who graduated from the Stevens Institute of Technology, and also the former executive director of the Hoboken Housing Authority until being ousted by the board in August.
His campaign kickoff date marks almost exactly one year to the day from when he was fired as executive director of the HHA – an event that caused him to file a lawsuit that is still unresolved as of this writing.
The assemblyman said he would be granting Hudson County View an interview before the campaign kickoff date, but declined to comment beyond that for the time being.
Additionally, Garcia’s allies Ruben Ramos, who use to hold Garcia’s seat in the Assembly, and Eduardo Gonzalez – who was on the HHA board for about five years during Garcia’s tenure as ED – will also be running in Hoboken Wards 4 and 5, respectively.
Ramos is set to clash with Dana Wefer, the chairwoman of the HHA and an arch nemesis of Garcia, as well as incumbent Tim Ochipinti, while Gonzalez awaits a showdown with Peter Cunningham.