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Gov. Phil Murphy came to Union City last night for a rally with state Senator (D-33)/Mayor Brian Stack, as well as three candidates backed by the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO), in the June 10th primary.

By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View

“I’d like to thank the Governor for being with us in Hudson County and Union City. Nobody has been better to the people of Union City, the 33rd, and Hudson County than Governor Phil Murphy!” Stack exclaimed to cheers.

The speeches were translated into Spanish.

“I don’t know where we would be without Brian. I don’t mean just Union City, or this district, or Hudson County, I mean the State of New Jersey. He’s an extraordinary leader,” prompting cheers for Stack again.

“It’s like the Beatles are back here!” Murphy joked.

He also gave shoutouts to Hudson County Executive Craig Guy, also the HCDO chair, West New York Mayor Albio Sires, Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner, and state Senator Raj Mukherji (D-32).

“We’re here to get Gabe Rodriguez re-elected, Larry Wainstein elected, and Jimmy Davis as sheriff!” Murphy said to more cheers.

“Each one of these guys has an extraordinary life story. Larry is an immigrant. He’s a successful businessman. He’s been in North Bergen. He’s the real deal. He deserves this.”

The governor added that Rodriguez is a former West New York mayor, while he called Davis “a decorated member of law enforcement” who became the Bayonne mayor.

Murphy had previously endorsed Davis for Hudson County sheriff and Wainstein and Rodriguez for Assembly in the 33rd Legislative District, both as HCV first reported.

Davis is looking to unseat Sheriff Frank Schillari, while Wainstein and Rodriguez have their own grudge match against Tony Hector and Frank Alonso.

Those three candidates are running on Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop’s “Democrats for Change” gubernatorial slate. The Stack/Guy faction is backing U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-11) for governor.

“As Brian will tell you, early voting started on June 3rd. I’ve already voted. It goes until Sunday, this Sunday June 8th. Then we take a day off and game day is next Tuesday June 10th. You can also vote by mail,” Murphy added.

“But whatever you do you gotta vote!” he exclaimed to cheers to conclude.

Afterward, Stack was eager to organize the crowd into door-knocking teams.

The Union City Get Out The Vote (GOTV) field operation is full speed ahead, gathering at the Union City First office as soon as the rally ended.

Leonard Filipowski, better known as Leroy Truth, was at the polling station outside City Hall to see how early in-person voting was going and alleged reports of fraud, but the the matter was ultimately resolved by election officials as a misunderstanding.

Around that time, Murphy and the candidates then went into a nearby senior center to hold a similar rally.

That may not seem like a big deal in this era of vote-by-mail, but it is in Hudson County, where just about everything political is a big deal.

This dispute, which ended up in court Tuesday, has its genesis in the ongoing fight between Brian Stack and Nick Sacco. The mayors of Union City and North Bergen, respectively, are each backing their own slate for the state Assembly in the June 10 primary.

And as a proverbial punch in the face to Sacco, Stack recruited Larry Wainstein as one of his Assembly candidates to run with incumbent Gabe Rodriguez.

Wainstein unsuccessfully ran against Sacco for mayor three times, accusing him of corruption, but never came close to winning. Now he may get to the Assembly. And represent Sacco's town no less.

Sacco's Assembly team is Tony Hector and Frank Alonso.

This is LD-33 covering Guttenberg, North Bergen, Secaucus, Union City, Weehawken and West New York. And it is the geography that prompted the legal battle.

To understand that, we must consider River Road, which runs north and south along the Hudson River and through Weehwken, West New York, North Bergen and Guttenberg.

A few generations ago, this was an industrial center and then an abandoned industrial wasteland. Now it's been revitalized with townhouses, condos and the like.

The team of Hector and Alonso filed suit saying there are not enough polling places on and near River Road to accommodate a growing population there.

They say those voters (8,000 are registered) must get to the polls by travelling up the cliffs of the Palisades. While one makes that trek by vehicle, not by horseback, it can still take a while. There is always congestion in these parts. The plaintiffs want "at least" three new polling places along the River Road corridor.

They also point to Union City, which they say is different. The suit notes that Union City has 10 polling places.

Union City is not along River Road, so all the polling places are atop the cliffs. That can be a function of geography, but Hector and Alonso see something more sinister afoot.

"This clearly creates an advantage for Union City voters to obtain access to vote as opposed to other residents of the district, specifically those residents of the waterfront," they said in the suit.

This is important. Stack is legendary in New Jersey for turning out the vote in his hometown. And he plans to do it for Wainstein and Rodriguez.

The Hudson County Board of Elections rejected any call for more polling places. In its court filing it spoke of time problems and said Union City has more polling places because the city pays for them.

Or, as it noted more officially:

Union City "chooses to pay for additional mobile trailers out of its own budget, including delivery, rental costs, portable restrooms and generators, for use during early voting. "

And on Tuesday, Judge David B. Katz, in state Superior Court, Jersey City, agreed with the county and denied the request for more polling sites "on the waterfront."

That means that, presumably, Hector and Alonso will have to fight the Wainstein-Rodriguez team on the field that now exists. So they remain contenders.