Infighting Flares Among Hudson County Democrats

In a county where the politicians are predominantly Democrat, all the fighting takes place within the party.

against incumbent Ruben Ramos Jr., Hudson County Democratic Organization Chairman Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith decided to "give the line" (in other words, endorse) not to Mayor Dawn Zimmer's list of candidates, but to her opposition.

Bhalla said he is running to "give people an alternative to Ruben Ramos."

Zimmer and Bhalla have formed a slate called "Democrats for Honest Government." The slate is made up of 59 candidates for committee seats in town. The Hoboken Democratic Party is made up of 72 seats (one man and one woman in each of the city's 36 districts). Zimmer currently holds the majority of the seats in the Hoboken Democratic Party.

If elected, Bhalla would have to step down as councilman at the very beginning of 2012.

The HCDO slate—under the leadership of Ramos—filed a slate of 60 people on Monday, said committee woman Ines Garcia Keim. Garcia Keim ran for party chairwoman last year, but lost to Bhalla, who is the party's current chairman. Also running for re-election in June, with the HCDO support, is Freeholder Anthony Romano.

In an article on PolitickerNJ, Zimmer told former Hoboken-based reporter Tim Carroll that Smith's decision to support Ramos was "a backroom deal with Union City Mayor Brian Stack.”

According to a letter Zimmer sent to constituents, Stack didn't appreciate her comments and called her on Tuesday. Stack didn't answer multiple phone calls on Wednesday afternoon. Stack is Hoboken's state senator.

"I received an extremely troubling telephone call," Zimmer wrote. "Senator/Mayor Stack, who over the past year has almost never returned my phone calls relating to important governmental matters like our hospital, was calling to threaten me politically."

Zimmer, the first and only female mayor in Hudson County, wrote also, "I don't know whether my gender was a factor in Mayor Stack and Chairman Smith's decision to treat me differently than other Mayors have always been treated, but their behavior has been both odd and disconcerting, to say the least."

Garcia Keim, who said she will probably be running to become the Hoboken Democratic Party's chairwoman again this year, responded that she didn't agree. "I don't think gender had anything to do with it," she said.

She added that the Democrats probably didn't like the mayor's close relationship with Gov. Chris Christie.

"Mayor Stack's threatening phone call to me makes it clear that he, like Chairman Smith, has something to fear from the truth," Zimmer also wrote in the letter.

, Incumbent Ramos—who is running with Sean Connors from Jersey City—lashed out at Zimmer, calling her and Bhalla "sore losers." 

"Zimmer didn’t get her way and instead of being a team player and supporting Democrats that share the same values she has identified," Ramos wrote, "she has resorted to the same slash-and-burn style of politics that she denounces."

The fight between Bhalla, Connors and Ramos for two open seats will be won and lost in the primary race on June 7. Before Bhalla's candidacy, Ramos wasn't counting on a Democratic primary race.

Ramos told Politicker that he wasn't too worried about Bhalla's candidacy. Earlier this week, Ramos' chief of staff Alex Habib told Patch he wondered if Bhalla even stands a chance.

"Peter (Cammarano) asked me the same thing when I ran for council," Bhalla said, "and I did OK there."

Clarification: A previous version of this article used another excerpt from the mayor's letter, which wasn't about Mayor Stack and Mayor Smith.