2025 primaries highlight machine's vulnerabilities on Hudson County commissioner map

When the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO) endorsed Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) in this year’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, it was something of a risky bet, since Sherrill was going up against the county’s most prominent politician, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop. The bet paid off; Sherrill defeated Fulop 34%-29% in Hudson County en route to a convincing statewide win.

But because Sherrill’s support was so heavily concentrated in the majority-Hispanic North Hudson fiefdom controlled by Union City Mayor/State Sen. Brian Stack, her win came with an interesting asterisk: she, and by extension the HCDO, only won two out of nine districts on Hudson’s county commissioner map. Fulop won six, and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka won one.

With every seat on the board of commissioners up next year, that could spell trouble for the HCDO’s stranglehold on county government – especially since two of their incumbent commissioners already came close to losing renomination the last time they faced Democratic primary voters in 2023.

The two districts that voted for Sherrill both did so in landslides: Commissioner Fanny Cedeño (D-Union City)’s 6th district supported her by 54 percentage points, and Commissioner Caridad Rodriguez (D-West New York)’s 7th district did so by 37 points. Both districts are essentially controlled by Stack, who runs New Jersey’s most formidable voter turnout operation in tandem with West New York Mayor Albio Sires.



https://newjerseyglobe.com/local/2025-primaries-highlight-machines-vulnerabilities-on-hudson-county-commissioner-map/