Arango takes Christie's joke in stride

Hudson County Republican Chairman Jose Arango doesn’t want to see any member of his party indicted, but he did not take offense at U.S. Attorney Chris Christie’s recent joke at the expense of the Hudson County Republicans. 

Shortly after announcing his December resignation, Christie joked in a radio interview  that “a Hudson County Republican would love to be indicted.  It would show they were relevant.”

Maybe a more sensitive Republican county chair would take offense at a joke that calls his or her party irrelevant, but Arango has heard similar jokes before. 

“It doesn’t bother me.  It’s something that’s a reality. It’s a tough deal to be a Republican in Hudson County,” said Arango. 

Arango is all too familiar with his party’s permanent minority status.  There are 27,230 registered Republicans in Hudson County to 173,890 Democrats. 

In that type of situation, Arango argued, it’s hard not to sometimes work with Democrats.  Arango, for instance, is employed by the City of Jersey City, and last year donated $1,500 to Mayor Jerramiah Healy’s non-partisan reelection campaign.

“The only way we can survive sometimes is doing deals with the Democratic Party,” he said.

On a statewide level, Arango said that Christie offers the best hope for the Republican Party.  In fact, Arango said he chose to stay on as chairman because he was excited about Christie’s potential candidacy.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that I’m supporting Chris Christie -- even before he announces --  because I believe he’s the future of the Republican Party.”