In Winner Take-All Hoboken Mayor’s Race, Giattino Allies Argue Advantage to Her GOP Party Affiliation
In a closely-watched Hoboken mayoral contest, the allies of Councilman Ravi Bhalla continue to hammer on the fact that Council President Jen Giatino is a Republican, trusting in a depletion of their arch-rival in a two-way fight to cohere the city’s reform base, but Giattino’s allies welcome the designation in a winner take-all election.
In a four-way plus contest with no incumbent, 25-30% can win the election. Around 3,400 GOP households in heavily Democratic Hoboken have voted in two primaries in the last four years. All four major candidates have measurable support, and the conventional thinking based on polling is that Bhalla, Giattino, Hudson Freeholder Anthony Romano and Councilman Mike DeFusco are bunched up at this point within the margin of error.
The undecided vote is around 20%.
“Four weeks ago the polling showed it narrowing down,” a source told InsiderNJ.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Kim Guadagno is polling at 20%.
“In a winner take-all election, the Democrats making an issue out of the fact that Jen’s a Republican is only bringing attention to it, which can help her with a divided Democratic vote. The Republican thing is a tw0-edged sword,” a source said.
As he wars with Giattino to shore up the reformer vote that retiring Mayor Dawn Zimmer leaves behind, Bhalla in particular has bashed Giattino on her party affiliation. Predictably, the issue came up at yesterday’s mayoral debate forum hosted by the Hudson View’s John Heinis.
“I’m not going to say,” Giattino told audience-members when asked who she intends to vote for in the gubernatorial contest. “I’m going to have to work with whoever’s governor.”
The answer prompted derision from the supporters of her rivals.
Giattino further made the point that state Senator Brian P. Stack (D-33), Hoboken’s legislative overlord, backed Republican Governor Chris Christie’s reelection in 2013. also, she said, Christie helped Zimmer save the hospital.
“People forget that Dawn got GOP votes,” the Hudson source said, trusting in Giattino’s ability to win every reliable Republican vote on Nov. 7th – which could put her within striking distance of the win with Democrats cannibalizing.
Dawn didn’t get GOP votes after her allegation that Christie held hurricane relief money for Hoboken as a political hostage. Even after that, Jen Giattino took money from his brother Todd Christie for her 2015 council run, and again for this mayoral race. So the question for Jen – Are you standing with the Christies, and saying Dawn was lying, but you still supported her anyway (and were supporting her for re-election this year before she dropped out), or was Dawn telling the truth, and you just don’t care how much they hurt Hoboken homeowners, and will still take Christie money in order to help your own political ambitions?
The follow-up question being – which of the above do you feel is more morally reprehensible?