Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member David Guirgis dropped out of the D-4 Hudson County commissioner race on Friday, citing health and personal reasons, with an official stating today “he would have been deemed ineligible to run.”
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“He [Guirgis] is not currently registered as a voter in D4 and thus would have been deemed ineligible to run in the primary for the county commissioner seat representing that area,” Hudson County Clerk E. Junior Maldonado said in an email following an inquiry.
The New Jersey Division of Elections website shows that the address linked to Guirgis when he voted in November was in Hudson County’s 9th District, which is coincidentally the only commissioner race that will be contested in the June 2nd primary, as HCV first reported.
Today, Guirgis elaborated on why he didn’t end up on the ballot, revealing he is still recovering from an emergency surgery procedure he had to pay for out of pocket, as well as acknowledging that he didn’t have the desire to take on expensive legal fight right now.
“The residency situation came into the picture last week. I have lived in Journal Square as a renter my whole life,” he said over the phone Tuesday.
“The address I have been using is two doors down and across the street from D-4 and while there was some legal pathway we could’ve argued, I just had to evaluate a number of things including tens of thousands of dollars for legal fees or fundraise for a campaign and I didn’t want to put people through that.”
While former Jersey City Ward D council candidate Patrick Ambrossi appeared poised to run, he ultimately decided better of it, stating he would prefer to see a united Democratic party after Aponte-Lipski became the consensus pick in D-4 among most county electeds.
Guirgis announced his candidacy in January and had secured endorsements from the likes of the North New Jersey DSA, Jersey City Council members Joel Brooks, Jake Ephros, and Eleana Little, as well as Run for Something and the New Jersey Working Families Party.
With no Republican candidates filing for commissioner outside of D-9, Aponte-Lipski now has a smooth path to getting re-elected to her third term.
Guirgis trashed everyone from his opponent to county government. He even kept raving about an audit needing to be done of county expenses. He should’ve audited his address. Instead, he dedicated so much time to screaming at the rain that he embarrassed himself. Then he lied about it claiming health reasons. The only thing sick was his ill-advised candidacy.
DSA only looks to back DSA without any other qualifier. It’s a shame. They also have shadow officials that dictate the actions of electeds under DSA. Many people truly don’t understand how bad this organization actually is for democracy and government. It’s all just vibes and looking to get arrested. They act and dress like what they think the working class is but all come from wealthy parents and are just downwardly mobile. They all wear Carhartts like it’s a uniform. It’s more of a cult than a political organization
David is just the first one to really show his immaturity. Also, no Mamdani is not a true representation of the average DSA member – it’s why he’s gone further than all of them.