Hoboken Freeholder Anthony Romano (D-5) has pegged veteran political operative Pablo Fonseca to run his freeholder re-election campaign, multiple sources exclusively told Hudson County View.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Romano, who raged against the machine and beat the Hudson County Democratic Organization’s pick of Phil Cohen in the June 2014 Democratic primary, will be seeking another term on the freeholder board in 2017.
Also the current Hoboken Democratic Committee chairman, the retired city police captain has been long rumored to challenger Dawn Zimmer for the mayor’s seat – something a good number of political observers are banking on next year.
However, sources say Romano, whose district also includes the Jersey City Heights, isn’t making a firm commitment to such a showdown unless he is able to again definitively secure a spot on the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders.
Fonseca, an ex-chief of staff to then-Newark Mayor Cory Booker and former West New York spokesman, made his first foray into Mile Square City politics this past fall, where Hoboken Board of Education Trustee Peter Biancamano made a failed bid for the Ward 2 Council seat.
At Biancamano’s campaign kickoff event at Lola’s Tapas Bar on September 17, Romano introduced Fonseca to the room as “a successful gentleman and good friend.”
A relatively new political presence in Hudson County, Fonseca has found a high level of success in West New York, running Mayor Felix Roque’s re-election campaign last year, as well as playing a pivotal role in getting six of the town’s past seven candidates for the board of education voted in.
Romano and Fonseca did not immediately return calls seeking comment, but multiple sources are expecting Fonseca’s addition to the team to be announced at Romano’s March 1 fundraiser at the Smokin’ Barrel bar – if not sooner.