L. Harvey Smith

State Sen. Sandra Bolden Cunningham (D-Jersey City), shown being sworn in to the Senate by Richard Codey in November 2007, is a key player in Jersey City mayoral and legislative politics.

The announcement last week that Assemblyman Harvey Smith will run for Mayor of Jersey City means there will be an open State Assembly seat in Hudson County’s 31st district, which includes part of Jersey City and all of Bayonne.  The two key players in deciding who represents this district in the State Assembly are Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy (the Hudson County Democratic Chairman) and State Sen. Sandra Bolden Cunningham.  If Healy and Cunningham get together – which would mean Healy would be seeking re-election with the endorsement of his predecessor’s widow – than the endorsement of the Hudson County Democratic Organization may be tantamount to election this year.

Also at stake is the seat of Anthony Chiappone, a two-term Assemblyman (2004-06 and 2008-date) from Bayonne.  Chiappone is at odds with the newly-elected Mayor Bayonne, Mark Smith, a Healy ally.  But Cunningham likes Chiappone, who ran with her late husband in 2003 and with her in 2007.  If a deal for Cunningham to endorse Healy in the mayoral race includes keeping Chiappone in the Assembly, then Chiappone will likely return to Trenton.

Bret Schundler, who served as Mayor of Jersey City from 1992 to 2001, is mulling a comeback bid next May.

While the Jersey City mayoral race is starting to gain momentum, former mayor Bret Schundler, who has not formally kicked off his campaign but has already said that he intends to run, has been relatively quiet. 

That has led to speculation that Schundler has had trouble raising money and filling out a full council slate and that he has begun to rethink whether he can pull off the same kind of upset in 2008 as he did in 1992.  Some say Schundler’s feet are beginning to get cold.

Reached for comment today, Schundler said he would like to hold off on interviews until January 15th.  Asked if he would rebut or clarify rumors about having a tough time campaigning, he said “I don’t want to clarify anything.”

But attorney Sean Connelly, a close Schundler ally who ran all three of his mayoral campaigns and served as Jersey City Corporation Counsel during his administration, dismissed the rumors.

“The last time I spoke to Bret was last Monday, and of course we send emails all the time. But nothing gave me any kind of concern,” he said. “I’m very pleased with the fundraising.”

Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith declared his candidacy for Jersey City mayor to the Jersey Journal’s “Political Insider” column over the weekend.

"This should be a great city and I think I can help make it happen," he told the paper.

Smith, the former city council president, served as Acting Mayor for about six months in 2004, after the sudden death of Mayor Glenn Cunningham, and served a few months as a state senator. He lost the following special election to fill the remainder of Cunningham's term.

ASSEMBLY APPROVES SMITH BILL TO HELP CHILDREN OF MILITARY FAMILIES

NJ Would Be 12th Member State To Adopt Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children

(TRENTON) – Legislation Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith is sponsoring to help children of military families who frequently move was today passed by the General Assembly.

The bill (A-2640) would permit New Jersey to enter into the “Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children,” which aims to eradicate disadvantages often encountered by military children because of frequent interstate moves and deployments.

SMITH 'INTERSTATE COMPACT ON EDUCATIONAL
OPPORTUNITY FOR MILITARY CHILDREN' ADVANCES
NJ Would Be 12th Member State To Adopt Compact

(TRENTON) - Legislation Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith is sponsoring to help children of military families who frequently move was released today by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Jersey City Councilman Steve Fulop’s announcement that he will not run for mayor breathes new life into a race that has been dormant for months.

Since summer, the field of prospective candidates has remained in stasis, with state Sen. Sandra B. Cunningham’s pending decision on whether or not to run holding up former Assemblyman Lou Manzo’s own candidacy. Former Mayor Bret Schundler has said that he’s going to run, but has yet to make a formal announcement, while Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith has yet to make a decision. Downtown community activist Dan Levin is running as well.

Fulop said that the lack of campaign activity only benefited incumbent Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who he frequently butts heads with.

“It’s to the benefit of the Jersey City residents that it’s going to start the campaign. It has kind of been not moving forward, which doesn’t benefit the dialogue – probably just Jerry Healy,” said Fulop.

NEW BILL TARGETS JOB OUTSOURCING TO TRY TO PROTECT AMERICAN WORKERS

Measure Would Prohibit State from Doing Business with Firms that Send Work Overseas

(TRENTON) – Assemblymen. L. Harvey Smith, Ruben J. Ramos Jr. and Nelson Albano today announced they’ve introduced legislation that would prohibit the state from doing business with and investing in companies that outsource jobs overseas.

Smith (D-Hudson) said the measure (A-3516) sends a strong message as New Jersey workers and businesses grapple with the global economic meltdown.

Over the course of the last month, the Hudson County rumor mill has been rife with talk that Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who’s facing a lawsuit that seeks to remove him from office, is preparing to resign.  

Last night, Healy sought to squelch that talk.   

“I’m not resigning.  Not only am I not resigning, but no way in hell am I resigning because Lou Manzo has brought an absurd application addressed to the Monmouth County prosecutor’s office to remove an elected Hudson county official,” said Healy in a phone interview with PolitickerNJ.  “I’m not only not resigning, I am running for mayor again in seven months.”

Jersey City Councilman Steve Fulop just saw his own municipal pay-to-play ordinance signed into law by the city council on Tuesday.  The next day, Gov. Corzine outlined a sweeping ethics reform package that, if passed, Fulop thinks will strengthen the one that Jersey City just enacted. 

The Governor’s plan covers banning contributions to municipal officials from redevelopers.  That, Fulop said, was part of his original plan, but he was advised that it wouldn’t pass muster in a legal challenge because of state laws favoring redevelopers– so he dropped it. 

“For us in Jersey City, I think the Governor’s would certainly be stricter because it would affect redevelopment, which would give us more stringent pay-to-play laws,” said Fulop.

SCHAER/WATSON COLEMAN/SPENCER/SMITH ‘SAVE NEW JERSEY HOMES ACT OF 2008’ SIGNED BY GOVERNOR

(TRENTON) – Legislation Assembly members Gary S. Schaer, Bonnie Watson Coleman, L. Grace Spencer, and L. Harvey Smith sponsored to extend foreclosure protection to thousands of New Jersey families caught-up in the recent mortgage market upheaval was signed today by the governor.