Mason and Zimmer have trouble on filing deadline

Hudson sources say the two likely leading candidates for mayor of Hoboken both had trouble with their petitions this afternoon on the filing deadline.

Acting Mayor Dawn Zimmer initially handed in incomplete petitions, which her allies say she later rectified before the deadline, while 2nd Ward Councilwoman Beth Mason didn't make the deadline.

Mason spokesman Paul Swibinski said Mason's situation was purely accidental.

"Beth was in this new county building long before the deadline," said Swibinski. "She was sent to the wrong room three times and trapped in a non-working elevator that maintenance people tried to operate. We have a number of witnesses, including public safety personnel, to confirm all of this.  A conspiracy theorist would think that Hudson County set up a gauntlet for Beth to overcome, but we believe that this was just a ridiculous set of circumstances. Dawn Zimmer on the other hand appears to have a much more serious legal problem.”

Zimmer campaign spoksman Sam Briggs fired off a response. 

"The fact is, at 4 p.m., Dawn Zimmer had 434 petition signatures filed and notarized and Beth Mason had zero," he said. "The last time Paul Swibinski made excuses for a candidate he was flat out lying about Peter Cammarano getting an extension on his ELEC filings in order to hide his political contributors. We don't think Hoboken voters will be fooled again."

Bill Pascoe, a spokesman for mayoral candidate Nathan Brinkman, predicts that Zimmer and Mason will be on the ballot. 

He speaks with some expertise: in 2002, Pascoe was managing Douglas Forrester's campaign for the U.S. Senate when the New Jersey Supreme Court allowed Democrats to switch their candidate just five weeks before Election Day.

"This is New Jersey, the Supremes are clear on this. 'Voter choice' is the paramount value in all New Jersey election law.  Let's everyone calm down, take a pill, so we can discuss the serious issues before us," said Pascoe.