Hudson County Superior Court Assignment Judge Peter Bariso ruled on Friday that a Hoboken Board of Education trustee and her husband will not be on the June 6 Democratic primary election ballot.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“This had nothing to do with eliminating competition from the ballot, this was the city clerk’s office trying to give special advantages to people who are politically connected. And my clients stood up on principal and said that this was wrong and they were dead right,” attorney Steve Kleinman said.
As Hudson County View first reported last week, Biancamano, also a member of the Hoboken Democratic Committee, and Ines Garcia-Keim – the vice chair of the HDC – filed a lawsuit after Sheillah and Aaron Dallara filed their petitions for nomination after the deadline.
2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher, who submitted the 67 petitions for nomination for the candidates running on the party line, explained that she accidentally forgot the Dallaras petitions – which were already notarized – at home which is why they were filed late.
Although City Clerk James Farina said in an April 10 letter that he felt the petitions were “properly amended,” the judge disagreed.
Now, Biancamano and Garcia-Keim will be running unopposed in Ward 2, District 1, though they will also be off the Hudson County Democratic Organization line.
Though some politicos believe that former 2nd Ward Councilwoman Beth Mason had a hand in the litigation, Kleinman emphatically stated that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“This lawsuit had zero to do with Beth Mason with any way, form or matter.”
The Hoboken Democratic Committee seats will be decided on June 6.
A city spokesman did not immediately return an email seeking comment.