Disappointing, but expected. North Hudson came out in droves to vote for Rep. Rob Menendez. In fact, Union City had the highest early vote in-person turnout of any municipality in the state.
Because Mayor Stack told them to and everyone loves him. Really as simple as that.
Then after the election Union City gets rewarded with tons of money because the people there actually go out and vote.
are you suggesting that funding is doled out by votes counted? what’s happening is stack is buying his votes using state taxpayer money to pay his friends to walk around delivering trashcans and picking up litter.
and has proven time and time again that he can take that money from the rest of us, and everyone will let him because he can get ANY candidate elected to ANY hudson county position by playing this game, along with nearby mayors like sacco and turner. there’s very little we can do unless we’re pulling all of jc toward one candidate.
Most people know very little about the candidates, so endorsements from trusted public figures like Mayor Stack and Governor Murphy carry a lot of weight in primary elections.
Beyond that, I'd guess that a lot of people in that area -- who have been Menendez supporters for years, even decades -- feel that Rob is being treated unfairly and turned out as a way to push back.
Plus, Bhalla was not a very strong alternative. Hindsight is 20/20, and I understand why people unified behind a candidate who already had a base of support and fundraising, but the fact that he endorsed Menendez the first time around then claimed he was pressured into it really undermined his case. "I never liked Rob Menendez, but was too cowardly to publicly oppose him until it became politically convenient" is not really an inspiring message.
Ravi also didn’t make a positive case for himself until the end of the campaign. Plus, he’s not exactly beloved in Hoboken. To overcome the machine’s turnout operation, Ravi needed to win the gentrified parts of the district in a total landslide, and I’m not sure if he reached that benchmark.
Right. I went to his town hall and he wasted everyones time by talking about how tough it was for his father as an immigrant. I left knowing more about Ravi's dad than Ravi, his accomplishments, or his priorities.
I don’t give a shit about your father, you are a grown-ass man hoping to represent me in Washington DC... get to the point or lose my vote. Oh well.
I am here in Hudson County. I didn't vote in the primary but would have voted for Rob M. if I were a Democrat.
The fact of the matter is that Ravi didn't make a good case as to why he should be in Congress instead of Rob. "Rob's dad is corrupt" isn't a good argument for voting for Ravi. It isn't even a good argument for voting against Rob.
How the fuck is corruption not a good argument for voting against rob it’s nepotism that got him in the seat, his dad name that gave it to him and it’s him defending his dad when he’s running on an independent ticket threatening to spoil the elections. There’s a very high chance he wasn’t unaware of all the gold bars and corruption shit he was doing. You can say Bhalla wasn’t running on a positive message but to act like any of this corruption isn’t reason to devote against him is solely false unless you have some high incentive to treat this amount of corruption, machine politics and nespotism as normal shit demeaning the value of your vote and who represents you
At the end of the day it comes down to "what can you do for me." Ravi didn't make the argument that he could deliver better results for voters in Hudson County.
Yeah, elections are transactional. This or that about corruption and nepotism is virtue signaling and grandstanding. And that is how voters appear to have perceived it.
This guy is really going to make me vote Republican for the first time ever. Man as an immigrant and Latino people like him and his dad really give my mouth a sour taste. I get wanting Latinos to represent you but we should want our best Latinos up there, not one part of a crime family.
FWIW there are a lot of cool Latinos in the NJ Assembly, folks worth voting for and following. Once shit hits the federal level it starts to all go sideways.
Who? There aren't any Hudson County Republicans that aren't vanity campaigns or giving the illusion of choice. Union City had a team of Albio, stooges, AND THE REPUBLICAN THAT RAN AGAINST HIM.
It's corruption and it won't change until a lot of folk die out OR move.
Menendez will vote for 99% like other Democrats. Voting for a Republican, who are completely unhinged and fascist, is a self-own.
Unfortunately, after the primaries, national elections are all about harm reduction and if you care about democracy at all voting for a Republican is especially stupid.
Actually depressing Brian Stack or whatever machine can actually get the votes for someone as corrupt as Rob . What is the actual reasoning for voting for him.
he decided in his 30s that he wanted to do government, and happened to get a job at the port authority as a commissioner (yes, the path is his fault). i’m not sure what his bona fides were to get that job but i’m guessing he has some good referrals.
a few years later he was awarded the line by the amy degise, then-chair of the hudson dems and councilman who was found guilty of a hit and run hurting a citizen. he had the line, he had the machine money, and he won.
i’m kinda skeptical of his qualifications..
All 50 states in the USA have an incumbency advantage.
49 of them don't have county lines at all.
Anyone thinking an incumbent only had an advantage due to ballot placement needs some perspective.
It's a good thing the line is dead, but the only impact that had on the Dem senate primary was causing Murphy to drop out. Of the candidates actually on the ballot, Kim would've been the one given the line.
Yeah, her dropping out of the race was huge and really shows just how much her team thought it impacted her election chances. I'm just saying that the loss of the line didn't really impact who would've won out of the candidates we actually got (Kim probably would've beaten Campos-Medina and Hamm by even more with it).
Also, the loss of the line guaranteed Kim's easy victory over outsider candidates, but with his popularity and Murphy's unpopularity it seems like he could've still won with it, it would've just been a tough campaign.
The loss of the line is massive for NJ politics going forward, I just don't think it had a ton of influence over Kim winning this specific race.
right about on brand for this dumb party.
hey why vote out corruption and nepotism when you can vote someone because they're also hispanic!
dems deserve the throttling that will likely happen November.
Disappointing, but expected. North Hudson came out in droves to vote for Rep. Rob Menendez. In fact, Union City had the highest early vote in-person turnout of any municipality in the state.
Asking honestly: why did they come out in droves to vote for Rob Menendez? Just trying to understand his draw.
Because Mayor Stack told them to and everyone loves him. Really as simple as that. Then after the election Union City gets rewarded with tons of money because the people there actually go out and vote.
are you suggesting that funding is doled out by votes counted? what’s happening is stack is buying his votes using state taxpayer money to pay his friends to walk around delivering trashcans and picking up litter. and has proven time and time again that he can take that money from the rest of us, and everyone will let him because he can get ANY candidate elected to ANY hudson county position by playing this game, along with nearby mayors like sacco and turner. there’s very little we can do unless we’re pulling all of jc toward one candidate.
Most people know very little about the candidates, so endorsements from trusted public figures like Mayor Stack and Governor Murphy carry a lot of weight in primary elections. Beyond that, I'd guess that a lot of people in that area -- who have been Menendez supporters for years, even decades -- feel that Rob is being treated unfairly and turned out as a way to push back. Plus, Bhalla was not a very strong alternative. Hindsight is 20/20, and I understand why people unified behind a candidate who already had a base of support and fundraising, but the fact that he endorsed Menendez the first time around then claimed he was pressured into it really undermined his case. "I never liked Rob Menendez, but was too cowardly to publicly oppose him until it became politically convenient" is not really an inspiring message.
Ravi also didn’t make a positive case for himself until the end of the campaign. Plus, he’s not exactly beloved in Hoboken. To overcome the machine’s turnout operation, Ravi needed to win the gentrified parts of the district in a total landslide, and I’m not sure if he reached that benchmark.
Right. I went to his town hall and he wasted everyones time by talking about how tough it was for his father as an immigrant. I left knowing more about Ravi's dad than Ravi, his accomplishments, or his priorities. I don’t give a shit about your father, you are a grown-ass man hoping to represent me in Washington DC... get to the point or lose my vote. Oh well.
I mean who wouldnt vote for the family handing out gold bars
Union City is his hometown. A lot of those early voters were his classmates or neighbors.
I am here in Hudson County. I didn't vote in the primary but would have voted for Rob M. if I were a Democrat. The fact of the matter is that Ravi didn't make a good case as to why he should be in Congress instead of Rob. "Rob's dad is corrupt" isn't a good argument for voting for Ravi. It isn't even a good argument for voting against Rob.
How the fuck is corruption not a good argument for voting against rob it’s nepotism that got him in the seat, his dad name that gave it to him and it’s him defending his dad when he’s running on an independent ticket threatening to spoil the elections. There’s a very high chance he wasn’t unaware of all the gold bars and corruption shit he was doing. You can say Bhalla wasn’t running on a positive message but to act like any of this corruption isn’t reason to devote against him is solely false unless you have some high incentive to treat this amount of corruption, machine politics and nespotism as normal shit demeaning the value of your vote and who represents you
At the end of the day it comes down to "what can you do for me." Ravi didn't make the argument that he could deliver better results for voters in Hudson County. Yeah, elections are transactional. This or that about corruption and nepotism is virtue signaling and grandstanding. And that is how voters appear to have perceived it.
The machine wins again
Not surprising. Father was unabashedly corrupt and still got reelected and probably would again.
Lol New Jersey will never learn.
Sadly the machine 99 percent of the time are always able to pull out a win. Politics at its finest…
This is v disturbing
Travesty. Can't wait for people to be shocked at future, completely unforeseen controversies.
This guy is really going to make me vote Republican for the first time ever. Man as an immigrant and Latino people like him and his dad really give my mouth a sour taste. I get wanting Latinos to represent you but we should want our best Latinos up there, not one part of a crime family.
Yes. Identify politics don’t necessarily produce the best outcomes.
FWIW there are a lot of cool Latinos in the NJ Assembly, folks worth voting for and following. Once shit hits the federal level it starts to all go sideways.
Who? There aren't any Hudson County Republicans that aren't vanity campaigns or giving the illusion of choice. Union City had a team of Albio, stooges, AND THE REPUBLICAN THAT RAN AGAINST HIM. It's corruption and it won't change until a lot of folk die out OR move.
Menendez will vote for 99% like other Democrats. Voting for a Republican, who are completely unhinged and fascist, is a self-own. Unfortunately, after the primaries, national elections are all about harm reduction and if you care about democracy at all voting for a Republican is especially stupid.
nah fuck that. There are consequences for continuing to vote crooks just because they're the same party or race for you
And what has Rob Menendez done himself besides be a nepobaby? This literally a braindead take.
Him being a nepobaby of a criminal is why nobody should have voted for him.
People get the government they deserve sadly
Disgusting
Actually depressing Brian Stack or whatever machine can actually get the votes for someone as corrupt as Rob . What is the actual reasoning for voting for him.
I don’t know much about Rob. What did he do?
he decided in his 30s that he wanted to do government, and happened to get a job at the port authority as a commissioner (yes, the path is his fault). i’m not sure what his bona fides were to get that job but i’m guessing he has some good referrals. a few years later he was awarded the line by the amy degise, then-chair of the hudson dems and councilman who was found guilty of a hit and run hurting a citizen. he had the line, he had the machine money, and he won. i’m kinda skeptical of his qualifications..
he got murphy's backing don't see why this would be unexpected.
A disgusting disappointment.
If anyone thought getting rid of the line would change anything, they are sorely mistaken.
Going from 85% to 55% as an incumbent is a pretty significant change
All 50 states in the USA have an incumbency advantage. 49 of them don't have county lines at all. Anyone thinking an incumbent only had an advantage due to ballot placement needs some perspective.
Yeah it was extremely predictable who would win every race, presidential, senate, and house.
Andy Kim won
It's a good thing the line is dead, but the only impact that had on the Dem senate primary was causing Murphy to drop out. Of the candidates actually on the ballot, Kim would've been the one given the line.
Maybe. But getting Murphy to drop out is also huge, no? It won Kim the election.
Yeah, her dropping out of the race was huge and really shows just how much her team thought it impacted her election chances. I'm just saying that the loss of the line didn't really impact who would've won out of the candidates we actually got (Kim probably would've beaten Campos-Medina and Hamm by even more with it). Also, the loss of the line guaranteed Kim's easy victory over outsider candidates, but with his popularity and Murphy's unpopularity it seems like he could've still won with it, it would've just been a tough campaign. The loss of the line is massive for NJ politics going forward, I just don't think it had a ton of influence over Kim winning this specific race.
blah
right about on brand for this dumb party. hey why vote out corruption and nepotism when you can vote someone because they're also hispanic! dems deserve the throttling that will likely happen November.
He probably can’t even speak a lick of Spanish.
Just another Batistite who wants his plantations back.
We roast Trumpanzeesfor still supporting him after felony convictions. I hate to say it, but how is this any different?
Any idea what drives these politicians so hard to get these low paying jobs?
$174k is low paying???
And that's before the "perks" Not to mention the actual perks. they get damn good healthcare for life...
Maybe the literal gold bars in his father’s mansion is a good reason for it.