“The Leadership that Listens” Hoboken Board of Education slate pulled off a clean sweep in the hotly contested non-partisan eight-person race today, the first full throttle school board election since 2016.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
The contest pitted LTL against the “Kids First” team, along with independents Pat Waiters and John Madigan – the latter of which is a former BOE trustee.
Preliminary totals show Norwood as the top vote getter with over 4,800 cast in her favor, followed by Antonio Graña with around 4,400, and finally Trustee Alex de la Torre – who was re-elected with at least 4,300 votes.
“We are extremely thankful that the voters of Hoboken have put their trust in us. From the very first day of this campaign, it has been about creating a better Hoboken and school system for the children of our community, and we cannot wait to continue that work. We are sincerely grateful for all of the supporters and volunteers that worked tirelessly on our behalf,” the trio said in a statement on Wednesday evening.
Cindy Wiegand, of the KF slate, is currently in fourth place with about 3,000 votes. She ran alongside Pavel Sokolov, the secretary of the Hoboken Republican Committee, and Donna Magen, who came in 5th and 6th place, respectively.
In a statement, the KF team congratulated LTL on their victory and also thanked the voters who supported them.
“We are so grateful for the overwhelming support we received from the Hoboken community over the last few months. Each of us made the decision to run for the Board of Education because we genuinely want to share our ideas and contributions,” the KF trio said in a joint statement.
“We are disappointed by the outcome but are proud of how we carried ourselves during the election process. We hope that we showed our community that you can campaign in a respectful manner, and we hope we inspired more people to get involved along the way.”
They also thanked Joe Branco, also the Hoboken Republican Committee chair, for managing their campaign.
The election largely came down to whether voters were still bothered by the $241 million school referendum that was defeated in January or that Republicans with “extreme views” had their eyes on board seats (though Wiegand and Magen are unaffiliated voters).
Citywide turnout was strong, with over 25,000 ballots cast, which evidently favored LTL – who are all Democrats and may have seem a boost by the inevitable win from 8th District Democratic congressional nominee Rob Menendez – who is now congressman-elect.
Mayor Ravi Bhalla, who endorsed LTL along with most of his council allies, said LTL’s victory is a win for the Hoboken public schools and students.
“Congratulations to @LTLHobokenBOE – Leslie Norwood, Antonio Grana and Alex De La Torre – for a big win for Hoboken! The school board is in great hands and the future is bright for our children,” he tweeted.
KF’s most significant endorsement was from former 5th Ward Councilman Peter Cunningham, with 1st Ward Councilman Mike DeFusco and 2nd Ward Councilman Tiffanie Fisher claiming LTL’s attack mail against them had gone too far.
Waiters is projected to finish in seventh place and Madigan looks like he’ll finish last.
Editor’s note: This story was updated on Wednesday with a statement from the “Leadership that Listens” team.
The best team won!!!! Now… 🌊
They proved that the Ravi Bhalla brand of political partisanship, demonization and “terrorist” political mailers still works in winning elections Hoboken.
^^^ THIS ^^^
One partisan hack slate ran on grievances over a failed referendum, the other slate of school volunteers ran on ways to improve Hoboken District schools and to start a 5-year strategic plan to keep up with growing student population.
It is obvious why LTL won.
WHAT WE LEARNED:
Residents overwhelming have put the referendum in their rear view mirror. They want to address the problems of today and tomorrow, not whine over the past. They chose the better slate by a landslide.
CONGRATULATIONS to the WINNERS:
LTL, the BoE, Dr. Johnson, the Hoboken School District- teachers and students, Hoboken stakeholders who benefit from stronger, better schools.
Nyah nyah nyah-nyah nyah to the LOSERS:
KF, Joe Branco, NJ Project PAC, NJ Fresh Faced Schools, Councilwoman Tiffanie “Egg on my Face” Fisher, Councilman Michael “Let’s Make a Deal” DeFusco, retired Councilman Peter Cunningham, Maureen Sullivan, John Kopisch, Paul Presinzano, Kurt Gardiner & his Demonic Entity “Hoboken Resistance” and a SPECIAL shout-out to the TROLLS who were so ineffective at making a difference.
Congratulation to the real estate agents who help sell the homes who will forced out of Hoboken due in part by ballooning school tax increases.
More BS, school taxes are capped at 2%. But you knew that.
Nope.
More Terror Flier slime from dirty Ravi & co.
Giattino LOST in 2017
BHALLA WON in 2017, 2021
Trump LOST in 2020
KF LOST in 2022
Lose, lose, lose… that’s all you do!!!
No “Storm” for you!
Lose lose lose… that’s all you do!
Q isn’t real. The Republican 2022 victory in the House and the same pending in the Senate is very real, no matter your election reality denial. Bring out Hillary to push another Russia Collusion Hoax. Oops, she’s already saying it for 2024!
Florida is a Red State thanks to the love of freedom, where “Woke goes to die.”
Thanks to ChiCom Joe, his Obama handlers, and Dr. Fraudci, the Father of the Wuhan virus.
The “red tsunami” roman promised didn’t happen. Worst midterm performance in over half a century. Maybe there will be a Lime tsunami instead so he can make a few bucks.
https://www.facebook.com/roman.brice/posts/pfbid02TqwnLbhY63TUi6BpT1V6CxzLTa9YdK4eMDwTXt2tcrd2SUsMwSSRfPAhzbFsaf2cl
When trump looks around to see who’s dumb enough to still be kissing his ass, he’ll be so happy to see you’re still there.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-new-york-post-journal-slammed_n_636ca5f7e4b081630470150b
They Wouldn’t Let me Vote at Fox Hill Along with Many others From the Area- I Voted at Fox Hill Last Enjoy
Oh my. It turns out all of that KF bluster here was probably, like, three people using numerous screen names. Pretty decisive shellacking, 2-to-1 margin, ouch.
Countdown to the fantasyland crybabies coming here to blame voter fraud, Bhalla, etc. Three, two, one…
4,300 vs. 3,000 is a two to one victory? No one blamed voter fraud in this election. People have only voiced disgust with your leader, Terror Flier Ravi.
Dude, you got your clock cleaned BY THE PEOPLE of Hoboken. the mayor didn’t cast all those LTL vote, THE PEOPLE of Hoboken did. THE PEOPLE OF HOBOKEN made the choice, not the mayor. THE PEOPLE OF HOBOKEN didn’t fall for KF, plain and simple. In case you missed it, the vast majority of THE PEOPLE of Hoboken agreed with the mayor and voted for LTL.
You are EXACTLY like Trump, hung up on old imaginary grievances.
President Trump lives inside your head but it’s obvious; you can’t count.
Go back to grammar school for remedial arithmetic. Or stick to doing dirty deeds for Ravi dropping a Terror Flier on Hoboken streets on a Friday night at dinnertime before an election.
Read the headline to this article again: “clean sweep”. Oh man, that must HURT, based on your wacky obsession with the mayor in every reply.
One more time, slowly, because I know this stuff is hard for you: you got your clock cleaned BY THE PEOPLE of Hoboken. the mayor didn’t cast all those LTL vote, THE PEOPLE of Hoboken did. THE PEOPLE OF HOBOKEN made the choice, not the mayor. THE PEOPLE OF HOBOKEN didn’t fall for KF or your BS, plain and simple. In case you missed it, the vast majority of THE PEOPLE of Hoboken agreed with the mayor and voted for LTL.
NEWS FLASH: THE PEOPLE of hoboken pay no attention to your nonsense. In fact, it probably prompts them to vote the opposite. WELL DONE, girlfriend!
One more time because you failed remedial math, “Learn to count.” Ask your boss, Terror Flier Ravi.
Who are these “people”– you and your multiple personalities? You’re one months rent away from shaking a tin cup on the street. Get off HCV, shower and get a job!
Ravinder Bhalla by his own admission would have been priced out of Hoboken had he not been given a pass on an almost no show second job at a law firm and had a hefty pay raise for his full time job as mayor.
What we learned is that LTL was better at getting out the vote. <5K in favor is hardly "overwhelmingly the residents". 1% of population. And, the residents who voted in opposition to LTL will be waiting to see if they succeed in improving Hoboken's high school rankings from state bottom through real educational benefits, not brick and mortar nonesense. Further, next time they come asking for tax dollars, better have a good reason why there are only ~450 high school students of which only ~75% are Hoboken residents.
“KF’s most significant endorsement was from former 5th Ward Councilman Peter Cunningham, with 1st Ward Councilman Mike DeFusco and 2nd Ward Councilman Tiffanie Fisher claiming LTL’s attack mail against them had gone too far.”
LOL…pretty clear proof of the influence this trio has (ie, none). Will Tiff finally realize her hysterical 30,000-word emails do more harm than good? Knowing her, probably not.
As we can see any criticism of Bhalla really gets under his very thin skin.
What does this comment have to do with what I said? Where did I mention the many? I know, your head must still be spinning from getting so righteously shellacked, hopefully that will clear up.
typo: meant to write “where did I mention the mayor?”
I don’t know how we could have lost. Ravi, Ravi, Ravi! Our communications were so effective and spoke to the issues BOE voters really want to hear about. Ravi, Ravi, Ravi! The voters don’t deserve us if they didn’t listen to our clear message about the future of education in Hoboken. Which was…….
RAVI, RAVI, RAVI!!!
Well played, morons.
As anyone who has ever spoken to Ravi Bhalla he has the personality of a damp dishrag and transactional ethics. He however has surrounded himself with ruthless political operatives at the taxpayers expense.
The only moron would be anyone who thinks that winners of the school board election won on their own merits or ideas and not an expensive political machine .
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!
Zzzzzzzzz…you bore me, not even any good at trolling anymore.
The mayor didn’t win this election. The people of Hoboken looked at the candidates and made their choice. A very clear choice, a decisive one. This fantasy of Wizard of Oz Bhalla behind the scenes pulling strings is a HUGE joke. Look around, everyone laughs at that nonsense, and your looney ranting drives people to vote the opposite way. You lose votes for your side. If KF does any finger pointing, they clearly should be pointing one at you!
No one believes that narrative. Mayor Bhalla recruited people to run and had his machine work their fundraising, publish those distasteful mailers and get out the vote campaigns.
What’s even worse than a disinformation- spewing moron?
A disinformation- spewing moron who’s a LOSER.
Lose lose lose… that’s all you do!
Ravi Derangement Syndrome. You have a very bad case of it. You are incapable of looking at this very decisive LOSS any other way. Ravi this, Ravi that. But guess what? You are trying to move public opinion in a highly educated media savvy city. Simply saying Ravi all day in answer to every issue and question just paints you as a buffoon, and a dishonest buffoon at that. The voters noticed this buffoonery and voted it down. But by all means keep doing it. Maybe it will work next time.
Must protect Ravi’s image.
Must protect Ravi’s image.
Must protect Ravi’s image.