With the May 10th Bayonne municipal elections finally certified yesterday, let’s take a look at the biggest winners and losers to emerge here.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Winners
Jimmy Davis
This one is pretty obvious, but the retired police captain has now swept three elections in a row: tough to do anywhere in New Jersey and certainly not the norm in the Peninsula City.
Steven Fulop and Bill O’Dea
The Jersey City mayor and the county commissioner left nothing to chance, bringing conservatively 300 people into Bayonne to ensure Team Davis had an infallible ground game. A show of strength that will help their causes the next time they’re on the ballot.
Craig Guy/HCDO
County Executive Tom DeGise’s chief of staff served as a game manager to Davis throughout and made sure the county apparatus delivered in the 11th hour. North Bergen Mayor Nick Sacco and Guttenberg Mayor Wayne Zitt also contributed to the cause.
Brian Stack/Richard Turner
Obviously neither is from Bayonne, but they deserve a shout out for again running unopposed – a feat in it of itself these days. Stack will be Hudson’s only dual office holder by 2024, while Turner is the county’s longest serving mayor – first elected in 1990.
Losers
Sharon Ashe-Nadrowski
The outgoing council president actually fared relatively well on Election Day, but early voting and a robust county GOTV effort prevented her from making it to runoff territory. Her next move remains unclear for the time being.
Nick Chiaravalloti/Joe DeMarco
Davis’ former top allies took on the tough task of trying to rage against the machine, and even with some super PAC assistance and consult from the likes of of politicos such as Mike Soliman, they were unable to make it the winner’s circle at all in this one.
Raine Cuseglio/Andrew Casais
The co-owners of Crossing Aisles Consulting at times moved the needle, but were ultimately unable to get it done against Davis, who is Casais’ uncle and former boss.
May elections
While Bayonne’s turnout certainly left something to be desired at 23 percent, Newark, the state’s largest city, only hit a paltry 10 percent, with Paterson under 20 and Weehawken somewhere in the single digits.
Unless you live in Union City (30 percent turnout), no one seems to get particularly enthused about May elections any more.
