Hudson County Democratic Organization

When Jersey City Detective Sean Connors took on the task of running against North Bergen Mayor Nick Sacco for the state Senate seat in the 32nd District last year, he really had his eye on a different position: 4th District Freeholder.

Connors, 39, expected that he'd have the backing of powerful Union City Mayor/state Sen. Brian Stack in exchange for undertaking that kamikaze mission on Stack's rivals at the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO). But now, with a tenuous semi-peace holding between Stack and the HCDO, Connors is alone in his freeholder fight against incumbent Eliu Rivera. Even without that support, Connors has surprised local political insiders by running a truly competitive campaign.

The Hudson County Democratic Organization will almost certainly dump Assemblyman Charles Epps from their ticket, but party leaders have not yet agreed on who will replace him. Democrats close to Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy (who is expected to become Hudson County Democratic Chairman in June) are pushing Freeholder Jeffrey Dublin for the post, but other Democrats -- especially Assemblyman Louis Manzo -- want former Jersey City Council President L. Harvey Smith, who served briefly in the State Senate (following the resignation of Joseph Charles) and as Mayor of Jersey City (following the death of Glenn Cunningham).

Smith has been angling to run against Healy for Mayor in two years. Healy could use the Assembly seat as a way of ending Smith's City Hall aspirations, or it could backfire by making Smith a more formidable opponent. Smith had the HCDO backing when he lost a 2003 Senate primary to Cunningham, and fared poorly in his bid for Mayor in a 2004 Special Election.

In the 31st district, the HCDO support is no longer tantamount to a primary victory. Sandra Cunningham, the widow of the late Mayor and State Senator, has been mulling a challenge to incumbent Joseph Doria. Possible Assembly candidates on her ticket include Jersey City Councilwoman Viola Richardson, who has a strong base in Ward F and had beaten the organization before, and former Bayonne Municipal Court Judge Patrick Conaghan, who forced Doria into a runoff last year.

Former Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone was the top vote-getter in his bid for re-election to the Bayonne City Council, avoiding a runoff. Chiappone had won a State Assembly seat in 2003, ousting eleven-term Assemblyman (and former Speaker) Joseph Doria, the Mayor of Bayonne, in the Democratic primary on an anti-organization ticket headed by Jersey City Mayor Glenn Cunningham. When Cunningham died the following year, Chiappone ran as an Independent in a Special Election for State Senate and lost to Doria. The Hudson County Democratic Organization refused to back him for a second term in 2005 and he lost the primary to Charles Epps.

Bayonne Councilman Anthony Chiappone has not done well in politics since 2003, when he scored an upset victory for the Democratic Assembly nomination -- ousting twelve-term incumbent Joseph Doria on a ticket that dealt a rare loss for the Hudson County Democratic Organization. Chiappone went to the Assembly on the coattails of Glenn Cunningham, the Mayor of Jersey City who won a seat in the State Senate over the objections of the HCDO. But when Cunningham died unexpectedly in June 2004, Democrats picked Doria, the Mayor of Bayonne and Chiappone's local rival, to take the Senate seat. Chiappone ran as an Independent in a November 2004 special election, losing to Doria by a 67%-21% margin in a four-candidate race; Bayonne voters preferred Doria by a 61%-37% margin. Chiappone's '03 running mate, Assemblyman Louis Manzo, ran for re-election on the HCDO line in 2005 with Charles Epps, the Jersey City Superintendent of Schools. Chiappone ran off the line with Bill Ayala, Cunningham's former Chief of Staff, but lost the Democratic primary by more than a 2-1 margin. Now Chiappone is up for re-election to the Bayonne City Council. Doria, seeking re-election to a third term as Mayor, has recruited a full slate of Council candidates in his effort to unseat Chiappone. Chiappone's expected running mate, Ricky Pasquale, dropped out of the race this week, leaving the incumbent alone on the ballot. Pasquale works as a landscaper for the Bayonne Department of Public Works, and apparently did not realize until recently that serving on the City Council might be a conflict.