Marie Day

The cover of today’s Jersey Journal has a picture of Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone (D-Bayonne) next to the words “I’ll win.”

Chiappone, indicted along with his wife in August by the State Attorney General’s Office for allegedly cashing staffers’ checks for his personal and campaign bank accounts and  subsequently stripped of his legislative committee assignments, expects to be re-elected on Tuesday.  And the conventional wisdom is that he’s probably right.  He’s running in the Democratic column in a district where his party outnumbers Republicans eight-to-one.  

That’s part of the reason leaders of the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO) – which saw several of its own members arrested in an unrelated federal corruption sting in July – did not make much of a fuss about forcing Chiappone to resign (with the notable exception of Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith, already a fierce rival of Chiappone’s).  Although Chiappone is not cozy with most of Hudson County’s top Democrats, HCDO Chairman Jerramiah Healy, the mayor of Jersey City, might have found it awkward if he called on Smith to resign but refused to do the same for corruption-charged Jersey City Council President Mariano Vega.

But the HCDO has kept its distance from Chiappone.  His running mate, police detective Charles Mainor, attends political events with the top HCDO brass, but Chiappone has not been not invited to join them.

So how does Mainor feel about having a running mate who has been indicted?

“As a police officer, I truly believe that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, and I extend that much courtesy to Mr. Chiappone,” he said.