Bhalla And Brennan Team Explains Winning Strategy In Democratic Assembly Primary

HUDSON COUNTY, NJ — Two Democratic candidates declared Tuesday that they had won their party's 32nd District election primary, but the results remain unofficial until all votes are counted (including vote-by-mail) and until the Hudson County clerk certifies them.

The winners will face two Republicans in November for the seats in the state legislature representing Hoboken and part of Jersey City.

The campaign team for Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla and Jersey City housing expert Katie Brennan said they were the winners, although incumbent Jessica Ramirez was only a few hundred votes behind.

The campaign team for the pair told Patch on Wednesday, "We're confident that Katie and Ravi won the race."

Consultant Louis Di Paolo said, "Katie and Ravi ran positive campaigns and really went deep on the issues that voters care about most, from affordable housing to the Turnpike expansion to transit funding. They knew the issues front and back and had real plans for what they would do if they were elected."

He added, "People aren’t happy with the status quo, and Katie and Ravi spoke to that. They didn't sugar coat what's wrong with the housing market, our broken transit systems, or special interests dominating our politics. Voters want elected officials who will use their power to actually do something — on housing, transit, resisting Trump, you name it — and that’s what this whole campaign was about."

He said the pair reached out to the voters, from answering questions on Reddit to working with social media influencers. "We reached first-time voters and showed real enthusiasm that you can’t buy with money," he said.

"Housing expert Katie Brennan and Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla won the Democratic primary for New Jersey’s 32nd Legislative District," said a release sent out by their campaign around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, "delivering a decisive blow to Hudson County’s notorious political machine in the first state-level primary since the elimination of the corrupt 'county line' ballot."

The campaign noted that they overcame more than $1 million in spending by the Hudson County Democratic Organization and a PAC called the Hudson Votes Project (which sent copious attack mailers out against Bhalla).

While the campaign of candidates Jennie Pu and Crystal Fonseca blasted Bhalla throughout the race, Bhalla instead blasted President Trump.

"We did it. We really did it. We just showed the whole state that the people can beat the party bosses,” said Katie Brennan of Jersey City. “This is what democracy looks like when it's not rigged by political machines. The status quo isn’t working for too many people here in Hudson County, and now we’re gonna fix it."

"Did you hear that? We just sent a big message to Trenton: The era of party bosses picking our representatives is over," said Ravi Bhalla, who's in his last term as Hoboken's mayor.

Write-in votes that were mailed up until 8 p.m. Tuesday may also come in throughout the next week.

The two Republican candidates for 32nd District Assembly did not face a challenge in the primary on Tuesday. See their vote totals below.

The Results

Below are the preliminary vote counts reported by the county at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. You can check this link to Hudson County during the week for updated totals. Patch will post a new story when the results are certified.

Democrats

With 66 percent of districts reporting Tuesday night:

Ravi Bhalla: 5,409

Katie Brennan: 5,575

Crystal Fonseca: 4,031

Jennie Pu: 4,290

Jessica Ramirez (incumbent): 5,242

Yousef Saleh: 4,108

Write-Ins: 67

Republicans

Stephen Bishop: 1,444

Kaushal Patel: 1,028

Write-Ins: 52

How To Post A Letter Or Get Patch's Free Daily Morning Newsletter

Want to subscribe to get a free Patch roundup of local news each morning around 6 a.m.? Don't miss the important stuff. Input your email address here.

Do you want to post your candidate's event, or a letter, or anything else? You can post on Hoboken Patch or Jersey City Patch any time for free, although the first time you register, there may be a wait of up to a day to start posting. Get the directions here.