John Ambrosio/The Jersey Journal

Half a dozen Hudson County Board of Election Co-workers twiddled their thumbs at a Ward B polling station at Liberty High School as they waited for Jersey City residents to cast cast their last minute votes in the Jersey City Council runoff election.

The runoff election pits activist Esther Wintner, against Mayor-elect Steven Fulop ally ally Khemraj "Chico" Ramchal.

"It hasn't been too busy," said poll worker Jacqueline Ahmed. "People have come in but nothing major has happened."

Ahmed said that approximately 40 voters have cast their votes at the Sip Avenue polling station since the polls opened at 6 a.m.
The polls close at 8 p.m.


Ahmed also said that Council woman at large Viola Richardson made an appearance at the polling station earlier this afternoon.

"She shook hands with the three voters that were here," said Ahmed. "She usually does that on election days."

Ahmed also noted that voters were somewhat touchy about their politics, adding "They won't even say 'Democrat' or 'Republican.


'" Welcome to the new Jersey City

Jersey City mayor-elect's biggest fan says she has 'hope' now

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
June 11, 2013 at 6:47 PM

Jersey City Mayor-elect Steve Fulop?s biggest fan was outside Sacred Heart School today in the city?s Bergen-Lafayette section.

Teacher Aneesah Aedullah, of Merritt Street, said she attended every mayoral debate of this year?s campaign season, recorded some of Fulop?s speeches on video and has talked to him personally three times.

?I?m like a stalker,? Aedullah said today.

Fulop?s victory in the May 14 mayoral contest ? in which he defeated longtime rival Mayor Jerramiah Healy ? signals a greater change for the city, according to Aedullah.

?There?s something different about this guy,? she said. ?It feels like Jersey City has some hope now.?

Inside Sacred Heart, poll workers said turnout was light, with only 129 voters as of 6 p.m.

?That?s not good,? one worker said.

Though Fulop won outright on May 14, only one council candidate (Candice Osborne in Ward E) won over 50 percent of the vote that night. So the top vote-getters in Wards A, B, C, D and F, as well as five at-large candidates, are on the ballot in today?s runoff elections.

There?s no contested race in Ward F. Incumbent Councilwoman Diane Coleman finished in first place on May 14, but the second-place finisher dropped out of the runoff and none of the other three candidates said they were interested in taking his place.

That may be why turnout is so light in the heart of Jersey City?s inner city. At the Glenn D. Cunningham Library on Martin Luther King Drive, poll workers said only 120 voters had cast ballots as of 6 p.m. The library holds two voting districts, but voters are scarce.

?They?re not coming down like they should,? said one poll worker.

That?s not good news for Councilwoman Viola Richardson, who is seeking her fourth term on the council and is counting on high turnout in her home base of Ward F.

Formerly that ward?s council representative, Richardson was promoted to her current seat after a November 2011 special election. She came in fourth place on May 14, behind Fulop?s three at-large hopefuls. She performed best in Ward F, winning a quarter of her total vote haul here.

Polls close at 8 p.m.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... ope_now.html#incart_river

Profiles of Jersey City's candidates in today's City Council runoffs

By The Jersey Journal
June 11, 2013 at 8:36 AM

2013 JERSEY CITY RUNOFF ELECTION

Polls open at 6 a.m. in the Jersey City runoff elections that will determine who will sit on the nine-member City Council. Fourteen candidates are running for the three at-large seats and the seats representing Wards A, B, C, D and F. The Ward E council contest was settled on May 14, as was the mayoralty.

COUNCIL CANDIDATES FOR AT-LARGE SEATS

Name: Rolando R. Lavarro Jr.

Age: 42

Family: Married, one child

Profession: Assistant director at the Office of Grants and Sponsored Programs at New Jersey City University

Positions: Councilman at large; commissioner, Jersey City Redevelopment Agency

Major accomplishments: Sponsored and passed living-wage ordinance; pushed for a crime prevention ordinance and increased foot patrols; introduced legislation to establish Immigrant Affairs Commission, the first municipality in the state to do so

Three priorities: Crime reduc??tion and prevention so Jersey City residents feel safe; a responsible budget with stable taxes; better quality of life.

Slogan: Team Fulop

Daniel Rivera

Age: 47

Family: Married with four children.

Profession: Lab research coordinator.

Positions: Former president of the Roberto Clemente Little League of Jersey City.

Major accomplishments: Worked with children from the entire city for 20 years as baseball coach; made sure that they developed the proper skills that they could take with them through life?s journey; advised them to engage in after-school programs; worked hard to keep them safe from drugs and gangs.

Three priorities: Provide a safer Jersey City for our residents and especially the youth; provide more visual policing like more officers walking the beat; increase recreational opportunities for youth.

Slogan: Team Fulop

Name: Joyce Watterman

Age: 55

Profession: Pastor

Positions: President, Women?s Political Caucus of New Jersey, Hudson County chapter; Treasurer, Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance; member, NAACP; leader, Bergen Community United Zone 5; prison chaplain; executive director, HOPE Summer Program

Major accomplishments: Founder, HOPE Summer Program; founder, Building a Better You, a women?s empowerment program

Three priorities: Recreation; employment and training; public safety:

Slogan: Team Fulop

Name: Viola S. Richardson

Age: 67

Family: Married, two children, four grandchildren

Profession: Retired police officer; councilwoman

Positions: First female president, the Inter-Departmental Minority Police Action Council in Jersey City; member and choir singer, Trinity Lutheran Church; state delegate, Women of the Evangelical Church of America; founding member and former president, Concerned Citizens Coalition; life member and former executive board member, NAACP, Jersey City branch; life member, African-American Historical Society Museum; former financial secretary, New Jersey Council of Chartered Members of the National Black Police Association

Major accomplishments: Stood with residents against eminent domain in McGinley Square; fought for mixed-income affordable housing throughout Jersey City; advocated for increased recreation for youth; advocated for creation of Lafayette Pool and Aquatic Center; expanded senior-meal program; advocated for second-chance legislation; supported expansion of the arts district in the Heights

Three priorities: Increase public safety; job creation; improve the public school system

Slogan: Integrity, commitment and service

Name: Sean M. Connelly

Age: 54

Family: Single

Profession: Attorney

Positions: Board member Historic Paulus Hook Association, Knights of Columbus, George Washington Association, the University Club of Hudson County, Jersey City Civic Association, board member and past president of the Lincoln Association, active member of Parish of the Resurrection,

Major accomplishments: As former Jersey City corporation counsel, filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark case declaring Ellis Island and Liberty Island as Jersey City land; winner, Humanitarian of the Year; instrumental in saving the historic Apple Tree House

Three priorities: Lowering taxes; job creation; putting the people back in control of government

Slogan: Fighting for you

WARD A COUNCIL CANDIDATES

Charles T. Epps. Jr.

Age: 68

Family: Single with two children

Profession: Retired educator

Positions: Jersey City schools superintendent, retired in 2011; state assemblyman from 2006 to 2008

Major accomplishments: Requiring all public-school students to wear uniforms; receiving education doctorate from Rutgers

Three priorities: To expand recreational opportunities; to have a better police presence in the community; to support local businesses

Slogan: Voice for the people

Francis (Frank) Gajewski

Age: 62

Family: Single, two children

Profession: Retired police chief

Positions: Police chief, 2000-2001; owner, Frank Gajewski Consulting

Major accomplishments: Induction into the George Mason University Policing Hall of Fame; becoming chief of police in June 2000; earning master?s degree in public administration from Seton Hall University

Three priorities: Focus on crime issues; create a program to stabilize taxes; increase job opportunities for Ward A residents

Slogan: Team Fulop

WARD B COUNCIL CANDIDATES

Name: Khemraj ?Chico? Ramchal

Age: 37

Family: Single, no children

Profession: Enforcement officer, Hudson County Improvement Authority; aide to Councilman David Donnelly; unpaid aide to Freeholder Bill O?Dea

Positions: Chair, South Hudson Civic Association; president, West Indian American Committee; ward leader, President Obama?s 2008 and 2012 campaigns

Major accomplishments: Kept South Hudson Civic Association office open during and after Hurricane Sandy to make sure residents received food, clothing and shelter; getting CCTV cameras turned on along West Side Avenue; ran fundraiser for victims of Easter 2012 Claremont Avenue fire

Three priorities: Open a legislative office in Ward B; make sure we have police patrols in high-crime areas; work with the Jersey City Incinerator Authority to make sure Ward B streets get cleaner

Slogan: Team Fulop

Name: Esther Wintner

Age: 53

Family: Married, three children

Profession: Senior registered associate at a wealth-management firm

Positions: Helped found and now chairs the Jersey City Homelessness Advocacy Group JCHAG; Trustee of Jersey City Free Public Library

Major accomplishments: Only member of the public invited to speak before the state Assembly Committee on Law & Public Safety to advocate for more aid for public safety; worked on successful letter-writing and call-in campaign to federal representatives for support for a grant to hire more police; successfully fought to bring foot patrols back to the West Side; successfully worked to have portions of West Side Avenue cleaned and power washed

Three priorities: Keeping taxes/water rates stable, working with police/communities on issues of crime and public safety, bringing economic development to the West Side of Jersey City

Slogan: Low Taxes! Clean Streets! Safe Neighborhoods!

WARD C COUNCIL CANDIDATES

Name: Richard Boggiano

Age: 69

Family: Married, three children

Profession: Retired Jersey City police detective; teacher, Jersey City Police and Fire Program for Jersey City Public Schools

Positions: President, Hilltop Neighborhood Association; bank auditor; president, Jersey City Police Federal Credit Union; board member, Head Start

Major accomplishments: Stopped a Port Authority plan to build railroad yards in Jersey City; had jail removed from Pavonia Avenue; stopped building of Earl Hotel; stopped the building of a teen nightclub; halted the use of eminent domain in the construction of a new Hudson County courthouse

Three priorities: Increase police presence; look at test scores from charter schools to see if those schools are performing better than the traditional public schools; develop Journal Square with the community in mind

Slogan: Fighting for Our Community

Name: Nidia R. Lopez

Age: 63

Family: Married, three children, two grandchildren

Profession: Self-employed business consultant with Nidia Boehringer Consultants; Ward C Councilwoman

Positions: President, Nidia Boehringer Consultants; commissioner, Jersey City Planning Board; board member, Friends of the Loew?s; member, Jersey City Medical Center Pre-Hospital Medicine Advisory Board; treasurer/elder, Iglesia Presbiterina Nueva Esperanza church

Major accomplishments: President of Hijas de Maria, an organization of young women at St. Bridget?s Church; public school education at School 9 and Dickinson High School; former owner, Merico Printing in Englewood; studied to become dental assistant at Newark Dental College; education at St. Peter?s College and New Jersey City University

Priorities: Advocate for the homeless; create jobs for Jersey City residents; focus on quality-of-life issues

Slogan: Team Fulop


WARD D COUNCIL CANDIDATES

Name: Sean Connors

Age: 44

Family: Divorced, no children

Profession: Jersey City police detective; state assemblyman

Major accomplishments: Being a Democrat that stood up for the rights of workers by voting on the minimum wage increase; standing up for people?s rights with the Marriage Equality Bill

Three priorities: Bring needed development to Central Avenue by attracting chain stores; initiate the Heights Housing Plan and expand to develop lower/middle-income housing; improve quality of life by cleaning up our streets.

Slogan: Team Fulop

Name: Michael Yun

Age: 59

Family: Married, two sons

Profession: Business administrator

Positions: President of the Central Avenue Special Improvement District (CASID); Co-Chairman of ?Save Christ Hospital;? board member of the Heights Hope Neighborhood Association

Major accomplishments: Helped preserve the 119 NJ Transit bus lines to New York City; established the Everything Jersey City Festival; kept streets clean for 20 years with CASID?s street maintenance program; over 30 years of community advocacy work.

Three priorities: Stabilize property taxes; public safety; quality-of-life issues

Slogan: Bring Common Sense to City Hall

WARD F COUNCIL CANDIDATE

Name: Diane Coleman

Age: 65

Family: Married with three adult children and one 12-year-old

Profession: Social services; councilwoman

Position: President & CEO of nonprofit Building an Empire

Major accomplishments: Founded and invested in Building an Empire, which has been operating for 13 years and has provided services to over 8,200 residents of Jersey City and Hudson County

Three priorities: Increase public safety/police foot patrols; expand recreational, cultural and education programs for youth; increase job creation/employment opportunities

Slogan: Team Fulop

http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index ... f_jersey_citys_candi.html

Well, this is it. After today it will all be over (Tk GD) a small reminder VOTE, VOTE, VOTE Good Luck to all the candidates.

Political Insider: Survivors switching from Healy to Fulop at warp speed.

Agustin C. Torres/The Jersey Journal

I had fun writing in this column about how supporters of Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy were abandoning the Team Healy ship. It raised an image in the minds of readers of furry rodents without my having to write anything else.
It's amazing how right after Downtown Councilman Steven Fulop won his mayoral race there were Healy backers who said they never really liked the mayor and that they were always super secretly behind the councilman. It's called trying to save one's behind, or job. There are several incidents of Healy people suddenly latching on to members of Fulop's ticket hoping to get carried into the new administration.
Under the unwritten banner of "We're all Hispanics," Police Capt. Edgar Martinez; ex-deputy mayor, former freeholder and almost municipal judge Ray Velazquez; Fire Director Armando Roman, and others, met the Saturday after the election to offer their support for Fulop's Journal Square incumbent candidate Nidia Lopez. This group of Healy backers hope to help Lopez overcome the challenge of the first ballot top voter-getter Richard Boggiano, a founder of the Hilltop Neighborhood Association.
Oh yeah, a non-Hispanic who has just switched sides in Ward C is Kevin Lyons, who has held a number of posts in the Healy administration, including deputy chief of staff and a member of the city Incinerator Authority. Lyons first began political life as part of Lou Manzo's menagerie, but the survivor did everything short of cutting Healy's toenails to keep a city job.
There will be no survivors if Boggiano proves his vote total was no fluke. The challenger has banked on the support of longtime Journal Square residents and many with roots in the Middle and Near East.
Then for some reason Heights Ward candidate Sean Connors, an assemblyman and police detective, has Healy's former chief of staff, Dominick Pandolfo, running his campaign. Pandolfo has had several roles in the administration, including as an assistant to Business Administrator John "Jack" Kelly. Next thing you know, they'll be thinking of moving into Healy's old Heights headquarters.
Several Fulop campaigners referred to the Healy ex-loyalists as "parasites" who found new hosts. "It'll do them no good, there's nothing for them except a road out of town," said one.
SAY WHAT? SHE'S CO-CHAIR OF WHAT?

The Fulop transition team will be made public this coming week. This is a polite way of saying they are striving for a transparent, seamless and intelligent change in city administrations. In the old days, the secret list of names in a transition were those facing the unemployment chopping block.
A big surprise was the revelation that state Sen. Sandra Cunningham would co-chair this changeover group along with Freeholder Bill O'Dea.
Naming Cunningham caused a seismic tremor among the mayor-elect's black supporters who believed they were fighting entrenched politicians, including Cunningham. "Fulop should have at least told his generals," said one major Ward F campaign leader.
While the names of the team are not public, I'll let you in on a little secret. There will be two former governors working with the Fulop administration -- Jim Florio and Jim McGreevey. McGreevey has been somewhat entrenched in the mayor-elect's efforts, having helped Fulop with drawing up policy. It could be why on Monday Fulop met McGreevey for coffee at the Miss America Diner. I'm betting we'll see more of the ex-gov.
One other surprise is that BA Kelly will be part of the team. He's probably there to explain some of the city's fiscal moves during the past four years. I can't help but envision Kelly as that poor actor at that (transition) table in the movie "The Untouchables" with Fulop as the baseball bat carrying Al Capone creeping up behind him.

MR. O'DONNELL CALLING -- NOT

It did not mollify black supporters of Fulop that giving Cunningham a major title in the transition may have been part of "an arrangement" that prevented the state senator from endorsing anyone in the city election. More importantly, it may aid Fulop in his bid to end Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith's role as chairman of the Hudson County Democratic Organization.
Fulop feels that Smith lied to him when the two men met and the Bayonne mayor said he would not take sides in the Jersey City election. A week or so later, Smith endorsed Healy and he wheeled thousands of HCDeadO money into Healy's campaign coffers. The idea was to make Assemblyman Jason O'Donnell look like a power broker should the extra cash save Healy's administration. O'Donnell is fighting for the state Democratic Party chairmanship. I don't think the Bayonne lads predicted the repercussions.
The Jersey City mayor-elect called Smith and used unlike-Fulop language to say what he thought of the Peninsula City leader. By the time the Hudson County Democratic reorganization comes around in June, Fulop will have nearly half of the county's committee votes.
Assemblyman Vincent Prieto of Secaucus, a vassal of state Sen. Nick Sacco of North Bergen, will become the next HCDeadO chairman. The only worry is whether Prieto will be able to parrot Sacco's orders and not mix them up with those he receives while chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. We can expect the new HCDeadO logo to say, "We're just not about plumbing."
Although he may have the votes, all this can't help O'Donnell lasso the state party leadership. State Sen. Barbara Buono's people called me Thursday and asked if I would like to interview O'Donnell about the Dem chairmanship. I said sure and I was promised he'd get back to me -- since they knew I'd be in the office late into the night. O'Donnell never called. I should have told the Buono people that I have been trying to call O'Donnell a few times and he has yet to return a call -- same with Smith. And I thought we were pals when they first got into office.

Jersey City mayor-elect outlines priorities for his administration

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
May 15, 2013 at 8:30 PM

Replicating the resurgence of Jersey City?s Downtown in the other areas of the city is an ?absolute priority? of Mayor-elect Steve Fulop, he said today at the Grove Street PATH station.

?You can?t keep building low-income housing in one area of the city and expect a good outcome,? said Fulop, who appeared on Grove Street to thank supporters coming home on the PATH trains.

Fulop, 36, won a decisive victory in Tuesday?s mayoral race, nabbing 53 percent of the vote to incumbent Mayor Jerramiah Healy?s 38 percent. Healy had been seeking a third full term.

The mayor-elect's appearance at the PATH station just before rush hour was a mini-sensation, with a little crowd gathering around him taking photos. Linda Kolodzieg, who grew up on Wayne Street, asked to pose for a personal photograph with Fulop.

"I am so thrilled," Kolodzieg said about Fulop's Tuesday victory. "I believe he's going to do great things for the city."

All but one of Tuesday's City Council races have yet to be decided, with eight of the nine contests heading into runoff elections on June 11. One of those races, in Ward A, will pit former schools superintendent and Healy ally Charles T. Epps Jr. against police chief and Fulop candidate Frank Gajewski.

Epps finished in first place on Tuesday, but didn?t win more than 50 percent of the vote. Fulop, who has said Gajewski was instrumental in putting together Fulop?s anti-crime plan, said today that the Ward A race being in limbo will not affect his ability to put together a plan to revamp the Police Department.

Fulop said he sees no trouble bringing to fruition the numerous plans for city government that he presented as a mayoral candidate.

?Everything that?s there, I feel confident in saying we can accomplish,? he said.

Fulop said Gov. Chris Christie left him a congratulatory voicemail on Tuesday night, and state Sen. Barbara Buono, Christie?s likely Democratic challenger, called him this morning. Asked if he?ll take sides in the race, Fulop said it would be ?ludicrous? to do so.

As for Healy, Fulop said he intends to reach out to the mayor tomorrow to talk about the transition (Fulop takes office July 1). Fulop said he will ask the mayor to place on hold any personnel or large-scale budgetary decisions until Fulop assumes office.

After taking questions from the media, Fulop stood at the top of the escalator at the PATH station to greet commuters and thank them for their support.

After about 15 minutes, a Port Authority Police officer told Fulop he was standing too close to the escalators and needed to move farther away.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... _outlin.html#incart_river

(a good Fulop tally in all wards)

Fulop's win helped by huge turnout in Jersey City's Downtown


By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
on May 15, 2013 at 9:19 PM, updated May 15, 2013 at 9:25 PM

Monster voter turnout in Jersey City's Downtown helped propel Ward E City Councilman Steve Fulop to victory in yesterday's mayoral race, unofficial election tallies show.

Fulop won Tuesday's race 53 percent to incumbent Mayor Jerramiah Healy's 38 percent, a larger margin than many political observers had expected.

Downtown, Fulop's base, the mayor-elect won almost as many votes Tuesday as voters there cast for every mayoral candidate in 2009.

Full JJ piece?

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... ge_turn.html#incart_river

Link to JJ piece with video?

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... _appear.html#incart_river

Jersey City voters elect Downtown Councilman Steve Fulop mayor

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
May 15, 2013 at 11:28 AM

Steven Fulop, the Downtown councilman who pitched himself to voters as a reformer bent on cleaning up Jersey City politics, was elected mayor yesterday after a brutal campaign against his political rival, Mayor Jerramiah Healy.

Fulop, 36, won 52 percent to Healy?s 38 percent on the first ballot, eliminating the need for a runoff election.

Former hoops star Jerry Walker came in third with 8 percent, while Abdul Malik came in a distant fourth with 1 percent.

?Thank you for believing in this great American experiment called democracy,? Fulop said to hundreds of supporters gathered last night at Zeppelin Hall Restaurant and Biergarten. ?We are going to work relentlessly to make sure that those of you who put your faith in us, we will make you proud.?

When news of Healy?s concession speech spread through the Downtown Jersey City eatery, Fulop?s supporters erupted in cheers. Fulop entered the room about half an hour later, to the strains of Queen?s ?We Are the Champions.?

Fulop, a Wall Street trader, has long eyed the mayoralty. He first won election to the City Council in 2005, representing Ward E, the Downtown, and won re-election in a landslide in 2009 after opting against running for mayor.

After his victory speech, Fulop told The Jersey Journal he intends to be mayor for the entire city, including his opponents.

?I?m going to work hard to instill trust from them, too,? he said.

Fulop?s victory is the end of an era for Healy, a fixture in Jersey City politics who was seeking a third full term as mayor. Healy, 62, was first elected mayor in 2004, succeeding Glenn D. Cunningham in a November special election held six months after Cunningham?s death.

The election was over quickly, with Healy conceding before 9 p.m. Polls closed at 8 p.m.

?If there is anything I can do to help him out after the transition, I stand ready, willing and able to do it,? Healy said to crestfallen supporters at his Oakland Avenue campaign headquarters.

Initial figures from the Hudson County Clerk?s Office put voter turnout at 24 percent. Fulop won 18,265 votes, Healy 13,108, Walker 2,996 and Malik 347.






Enlarge Aiyana Cronk/The Jersey Journal Jerry Walker campaign workers at the Hub on Martin Luther King Drive. Ken Thorbourne/The Jersey JournalJersey City Municipal Election Day 2013 Part 1, May 14, 2013 gallery (46 photos)







Healy?s campaign thought the election was all but sewn up in March, when it received a coveted, and rare, endorsement from President Obama, whose face subsequently appeared in almost every piece of Healy campaign literature.

But political observers believe the election moved away from Healy starting in mid-April, when Fulop began sending out campaign literature and airing television ads featuring information about the 2009 corruption sweep that landed numerous Healy allies in federal prison on bribery charges.

Healy was never charged in the sweep, but he was featured in a hidden-camera video meeting with disgraced developer Solomon Dwek, the confidential informant who helped federal officials make their cases against corrupt pols like Leona Beldini, Healy?s 2009 campaign treasurer and deputy mayor. One of Fulop?s ads featured footage from that meeting.

A Healy insider who asked not to be named told The Jersey Journal that Fulop?s focus on the corruption sweep ?definitely? hurt Healy?s standing with voters.

Joshua Henne, a spokesman for the Healy campaign, said he wouldn?t allow Rosemary McFadden or Bill Matsikoudis, two top officials in the administration and high-level campaign functionaries, to comment.

Last night, after conceding, Healy shook hands of his supporters outside his headquarters and apologized to them for losing.

?I think the people of Jersey City get sick of you after a while,? Healy said. ?I guess I?ll check to see if my law license is still in good standing.?

Journal staff writer Michaelangelo Conte contributed to this story.

http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index ... ys_new_mayor_says_he.html

Mayor-elect Fulop: I'll work hard for supporters, win trust of opponents

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
May 15, 2013 at 12:15 AM

Jersey City Mayor-elect Steven Fulop tonight said he would work hard for the people who voted for him, and work equally hard to win the trust of those who voted for his opponents.

Fulop, who tonight won a decisive victory against incumbent Mayor Jerramiah Healy and two other mayoral hopefuls, said his No. 1 priority for now is to work hard for his running mates who must run in the June 11 run-off election.

"I think it's important that we have a council that can work to move this city forward," he told The Jersey Journal tonight at Zeppelin Hall in Downtown Jersey City.

Election results from the Hudson County Clerk indicate only Ward E council candidate Candice Osborne won her election outright. None of the remaining first-place winners in the eight other races won more than 50 percent of the vote, which is necessary to avoid a runoff election.

Fulop, who represents the Downtown ward on the Jersey City council, first won election in 2005 ? defeating a Healy man who has since endorsed Fulop ? and was re-elected in a 2009 landslide.

A former U.S. Marine and ex-Goldman Sachs trader, Fulop was making his first bid this year to become the city?s top executive.

The councilman has argued that Jersey City under Healy's leadership is not what it could be.

Fulop was considered something of a shoo-in in the middle of last year, with Healy?s campaign making a slow start in the fundraising department. But some good numbers at the end of 2012, and a high-profile endorsement of Healy by none other than President Obama, put the race back into something of a toss-up.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... _suppor.html#incart_river

Former Wall Street Trader Fulop Ousts Jersey City?s Mayor

Bloomberg
By Elise Young - May 14, 2013 9:39 PM ET

Jersey City Councilman Steven Fulop, who quit Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.?s trading desk to run for mayor, ousted incumbent Jerramiah Healy in an election that drew attention to an FBI investigation and a drunken nude photo.

Fulop, 36, who had financial backing from Wall Street, won 52 percent of the votes, according to results posted on the Hudson County clerk?s website. Healy, 62, who had endorsements from President Barack Obama and Newark Mayor Cory Booker, had 38 percent, with 85 percent of the votes counted. Both are registered Democrats in the nonpartisan race.

Healy conceded to Fulop, according to Bruno Tedeschi, a Fulop spokesman. The two battled for control of a city savvy enough to coax Goldman Sachs Group Inc., UBS AG and Citigroup Inc. to open offices there, earning it the nickname ?Wall Street West.? Healy, though, was unable to shake Jersey City?s reputation for a century of crooked Democratic politics. Fulop won after telling voters it was time for Healy to quit embarrassing New Jersey?s second-most populous city.

In 2009, Jersey City was rocked by ?Operation Bid Rig,? the largest Federal Bureau of Investigation corruption sting in state history. It netted 44 public officials and rabbis. The case led to prison sentences for Healy?s deputy mayor, Leona Baldini, who had been his campaign treasurer, and several other aides and allies.

Never Charged

Healy, recorded on a hidden FBI camera meeting with an undercover informant, was never charged in that case. Fulop used the footage in a campaign advertisement with a tagline, ?Mayor Healy got away with it.? Healy?s campaign issued a cease-and-desist letter that called the material defamatory.

Healy, a former prosecutor, municipal judge and councilman, became mayor after winning a November 2004 special election to succeed Glenn Cunningham, who died of a heart attack. He was re-elected in June 2005 and again in 2009.

In 2004, while Healy was still a councilman, a photo of him sleeping nude on his front porch surfaced on the Internet. The New York Times quoted Healy saying in 2006 that he didn?t remember how he got on his porch after drinking six to eight beers at a local bar.

Nude Photo

In an interview this year with the Star-Ledger of Newark, Healy was quoted as saying that ?three Hispanic girls? had lured him outside, pulled off the towel wrapped around him and did ?filthy? things to him. He chased them off, then sat on the porch, and was then photographed by a political enemy, he was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

In 2006, the mayor was arrested and convicted of a disorderly person offense after scuffling with police outside a Bradley Beach bar owned by his sister. Four years later, the state Supreme Court?s disciplinary review board admonished him for the incident, and the Jersey Journal of Jersey City called for his resignation.

Fulop previously had worked at Citigroup Inc. (C) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), leaving after the 2001 World Trade Center attacks to join the U.S. Marine Corps and serve in Iraq. He was elected to the City Council in 2005 at the age of 27. He was endorsed for mayor by Advance Publications Inc.?s Jersey Journal and Star-Ledger newspapers.

His political backers included Appaloosa Management co-founder David Tepper and Pennant Capital Management founder Alan Fournier. He was the subject of supportive mailings from Better Education for New Jersey Kids, a New Brunswick-based political action committee that was started in 2011 by Tepper and Fournier to support the creation of charter schools, privately run with public funding.

Healy had tried to get a Superior Court judge in Hudson County to force the group to stop producing campaign ads. In a May 10 lawsuit, Healy accused it of engaging in ?explicit advocacy of Fulop?s candidacy? and skirting campaign-finance laws. Judge Peter Bariso dismissed the suit.

As of May 2, Fulop had raised $955,964 to Healy?s $804,028, according to state campaign-finance data.

Jersey City, with 250,000 residents, is New Jersey?s second-most populous municipality. It?s also the state?s most diverse, according to U.S. Census Bureau data analyzed by Bloomberg. About 75 languages are spoken in the homes of the children who attend its public schools

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05 ... -jersey-city-s-mayor.html

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... out_moderate_near_jo.html

Apparently voter turnout is that not high in J.sq. WIth only one hour left, make sure to tell all your friends and family to vote in this section, if it applies to them.

I meant northern section of Ward C (North of Rt. 139).. I am close to the Ward C / Ward D border. My block is almost solid Healy signs.. but I know some of the Healy supporters around me have city jobs.

Lots of Healy people outside ps#8 earlier. I voted fulop in ward c and so did many of my neighbors.

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I think you mean Ward D. I live in the northern section of the Heights and we are Ward D. Ward C encompasses J.sq and I think the southern portion of the Heights.

I did see lots of Yun and Healy "volunteers" everywhere in the Heights. Most of the people on my block were voting for Fulop, there were only about 4 or 5 houses on my block that were Healy supporters.

Well.. I just voted in Ward C (northern part in the Heights). Modest turn out with Healy minions everywhere around the polling station. The way the signs were angled though, it looked like Obama was running for mayor instead of Healy.

Given the turnout up here, I don't think Fulop supporters will be able to win out over the 20% machine-zombie vote. It will be up to turnout downtown and in Newport for a Fulop win.

Fulop did have election observers at my polling station. None there were from Healy (or at least I didn't see any).

Election results

Link

I now understand the same thing happened in PS #8, they gave someone a provisional ballot.

Call HQ Fulop HQ immediately if anything like this happens - even if you aren't sure! There is a battery of lawyers on standby there to go to the polling sites and investigate/escalate immediately. And you can also call the BOE at 201-369-7745. Ask to speak to a supervisor.

Also, if you see any Healy lit or signs less than 100 feet from the polls - TAKE THEM DOWN. They are illegally placed.

Stay diligent folks - it ain't over.

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WTF? I go out to vote and upon my return I notice there's a huge Healy poster on my property. Holy crap. Someone tied it on top of my approved Fulop poster, and it's huge! about 2.5 x4 feet

He was, but at a cost to his health. He has a number of ailments.

Yvonne, was your friend able to vote?

My friend is handicapped and went to vote at P.S. #11, he says you normally go in the rear of the school to vote where there is no stairs. Today, you had to vote in front, in which handicapped people had to use the stairs. This is a form of voter suppression.

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Was this on the Ward E or F side of things? When I was there to vote around 10am they were in the process of bringing in a new machine.

It's not visible to the voter as its on the side of the machine, the workers were discussing it at the time I voted and trying to determine if there was problem with the machine. I believe lawyers were called to the location to sort it out.

CCoon, where on the machine is there a counter that is visible when you vote, the one you say is counting backwards? I'll check this out when I go to vote later today...

Jersey City Mayor Dogged by Scandal Faces Ex-Bond Trader

By Elise Young - May 13, 2013

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, 62-year-old veteran of political hazards that include a drunken nude photo and an FBI sting, wants a third full term. Backing him are President Barack Obama and Newark Mayor Cory Booker.

Healy?s main challenger in today?s election, Steven Fulop, a 36-year-old city councilman who left Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.?s trading desk to campaign, says it?s time for Healy to quit embarrassing New Jersey?s second-most populous city, four minutes by train beneath the Hudson River to Manhattan. Fulop?s backers include Appaloosa Management co-founder David Tepper and Pennant Capital (PFLT) Management founder Alan Fournier.

The two candidates are frontrunners for control of a city government savvy enough to coax Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), UBS AG and Citigroup Inc. (C) to open offices there, earning it the nickname ?Wall Street West,? yet powerless to shake a 100-year reputation for crooked Democratic politics.

?It really is a test case in terms of a new guard entering the fray,? said Brigid Harrison, a professor of politics and law at Montclair State University. ?That old guard has retained power. When people conjure up images of the city, it?s one in which party machines are enormously important.?

Healy and Fulop are registered Democrats, though today?s race, which has two others on the ballot, is nonpartisan. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two will compete in a June 11 runoff.

Hudson Democrats
Jersey City, 15 miles (24 kilometers) square, became known for political corruption starting in 1917 under the 30-year rule of Democrat Frank Hague, whose hallmark was boss-style patronage and election fraud framed by his declaration, ?I am the law.? Mayor Thomas Gangemi Sr., an Italian immigrant, resigned in 1963 because he had never become a U.S. citizen. Mayor Thomas Whelan was convicted of extortion in a 1971 federal case.

In 1991, Mayor Gerald McCann was convicted in a savings-and-loan scheme linked to a marina development. Released from federal prison in 1994, he was hired as a city incinerator inspector and elected as trustee for Jersey City schools, the first ever taken over by the state of New Jersey, in 1989, for poor performance.

Healy, a former prosecutor, municipal judge and councilman, became mayor after winning a November 2004 special election to succeed Glenn Cunningham, who died of a heart attack. He was re-elected in June 2005 and again in June 2009.

Nude Photo
The mayor declined to be interviewed for this story, said Joshua Henne, a campaign spokesman.

In 2004, while Healy was still a councilman, a photo of him sleeping nude on his front porch was posted on the Internet. The New York Times quoted Healy saying in 2006 that he didn?t remember how he got on his porch after drinking six to eight beers at a local bar.

In an interview this year with the Star-Ledger, Healy was quoted as saying that ?three Hispanic girls? lured him outside, pulled off the towel wrapped around him and did ?filthy? things to him. He chased them off, then sat on the porch, and was then photographed by a political enemy, he was quoted by the paper as saying.

In 2006, the mayor was arrested and convicted of a disorderly-persons offense after scuffling with police outside a Bradley Beach bar owned by his sister. Four years later, the state Supreme Court?s disciplinary review board admonished him for the incident, and the Jersey Journal of Jersey City called for his resignation.

Bid Rig
In 2009, Jersey City was rocked by ?Operation Bid Rig,? the largest Federal Bureau of Investigation corruption sting in New Jersey history, which netted 44 public officials and rabbis across the state. The case led to prison sentences for Healy?s deputy mayor, Leona Baldini, who had been his campaign treasurer, and several other aides and allies.

Healy, recorded on an FBI hidden camera meeting with an undercover informant, was never charged in that case. Fulop used the footage in a campaign ad with a tagline, ?Mayor Healy got away with it.? Healy?s campaign issued a cease-and-desist letter that called the material defamatory.

The mayor said that under his leadership, crime in his city of nearly 250,000 people has dropped by a third. While other major cities fired police officers to close budget gaps, Healy has hired nearly 300, according to his campaign website.

?Same Values?
Healy, who was co-chairman of Obama?s New Jersey campaign, said he and the president ?share the same values that make up the bedrock of the Democratic Party.? Obama, in his March 20 endorsement of Healy, said ?we need more leaders like my friend, Jerry Healy.?

?He?s made Jersey City a vital engine for economic growth, innovation and opportunity,? Obama said.

Healy?s endorsements also include Booker, a rising Democratic star and possible U.S. Senate candidate; Boston Mayor Tom Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.

Fulop has no comparable banner-name backing, though both the Jersey Journal and the Star-Ledger have endorsed him.

?We have John from Gifford Avenue and Paul from Duncan Avenue,? Fulop, referring generically to neighborhood support, said in an interview. ?It really speaks to the grassroots thing.?

Tepper Committee
Fulop, who had worked for Citigroup and then Goldman before leaving to serve with the Marines in Iraq, has been able to draw campaign interest from Wall Street. Better Education for New Jersey Kids, a New Brunswick, New Jersey, political-action committee started in 2011 by Tepper and Fournier, has funded mailings supporting him.

?Fulop has a long history of putting the interests of the public-school kids first, and standing up against the status quo,? said Michael Lilley, a spokesman for Better Education.

Healy tried to get a Superior Court judge in Hudson County to force the group to stop producing campaign ads. In a May 10 lawsuit, Healy accused it of engaging in ?explicit advocacy of Fulop?s candidacy? and skirting campaign-finance laws.

?Filing a frivolous lawsuit is what a desperate campaign does when the state?s largest paper, The Star-Ledger, calls the mayor ineffective, unethical and often downright embarrassing,? said Bruno Tedeschi, a spokesman for Fulop.

Fulop?s campaign received $52,000 from Tepper, of Livingston, and Fournier, of Far Hills, according to Healy?s lawsuit. Neither responded to e-mails for comment on the race.

As of May 2, Fulop had raised more than Healy, $955,964 to the incumbent?s $804,028, according to campaign-finance records.

Fulop says his success will depend on voter turnout.

?Our greatest obstacle is apathy,? Fulop said in an e-mail to supporters. ?If the turnout is large on election day, we win. If it?s not, we lose.?




http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05 ... faces-ex-bond-trader.html

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Any surprise that this happened in a heavy Steve Fulop district? No.

At the school on Bright St this morning at 8:40 the voting machines are counting backward. I logged an incident report as it affected my voting machine and another one in the row. There was no election official of rank on site and the workers were unsure what to do. One said, "don't worry, it's a computer and does that sometimes"

early this morning, a truck rumbled down my street, blaring Team Healy propaganda through scratchy, distorted loudspeakers.

was so happy for the wake-up call, as it got me out of bed to vote for Steve Fulop.