Posted by JERSEY CITY - City Councilman Jerramiah Healy declared victory Tuesday night in the race for mayor, but county elections officials left for the evening without announcing an official winner. on November 03, 2004 at 05:51:02:

Councilman declares victory in Jersey City mayoral race

Wednesday, November 3, 2004

By STEVE STRUNSKY
ASSOCIATED PRESS

JERSEY CITY - City Councilman Jerramiah Healy declared victory Tuesday night in the race for mayor, but county elections officials left for the evening without announcing an official winner.

Healy was ahead with 28 percent, or 15,554 votes when the elections office closed late Tuesday. Louis Manzo, was second with 12,969 votes, or 24 percent, and Council President L. Harvey Smith, the city's acting mayor, was third with 11,936 votes, or 22 percent.

Those figures represented 166 of 184 precincts and were unofficial results, according to Hilda Rosario with the Hudson County clerk's office. They do not include absentee or provisional ballots, she said.

"We don't have completed precinct totals," Rosario said.

Still, Healy declared victory Tuesday night in the race to fill the unexpired term of Glenn D. Cunningham, the city's first black mayor, who died of a heart attack earlier this year.

"I told people a week ago, it's not going to be as close as everybody says," Healy said.

Six months after Cunningham's death, his presence could still be felt in the race for his replacement, which included several candidates who had direct ties to him.

Manzo ran with Cunningham in the November 2003 legislative races, and Councilman Steve Lipski was one of his strongest supporters on the nine-member council.

Other candidates included former City Councilwoman Willie Flood, who was chairwoman of the political organization Cunningham founded, along with Hosam Mansour, Hilario Nunez, Dwayne Baskerville, Alfred Pine, Thomas Short and Isaiah Gadsden.

The number of candidates made it a difficult choice for some voters, like Lilla Graham, 83, a retired nurse's aide.

"Honey, it was too much, too much," Graham said after voting at a local senior citizen center.

Tuesday's race for control of the state's second largest city, and one of its strongest economic engines, is to fill Cunningham's unexpired term ending June 30. A separate election is to fill his state Senate term.

Unlike a regular mayoral election, which requires more than 50 percent of the vote, the candidate who receives the most votes in the special election wins.

The race evoked memories of Jersey City's 1992 special election to fill the unexpired term of former Mayor Gerald McCann, who was ousted following a federal bank fraud conviction. That race featured 19 candidates, and launched Bret Schundler's political career when he won with just 18 percent of the vote.

McCann also figured into the Tuesday's campaign, when the Manzo camp drew criticism for using the ousted mayor as a campaign adviser.

Healy, one of the critics, drew unwanted attention after he was photographed naked outside his house in August.

The councilman said he suspected McCann played a role in publicizing the photograph, which was taken by a teenager walking past his house. Calling the incident a "dirty political trick," Healy said he was lured outside by a noise and someone pulled a towel off him. McCann denied having anything to do with the photograph's posting online.

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: Councilman declares victory in Jersey City mayoral race    

: Wednesday, November 3, 2004 

: By STEVE STRUNSKY
: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

: JERSEY CITY - City Councilman Jerramiah Healy declared victory Tuesday night in the race for mayor, but county elections officials left for the evening without announcing an official winner.

: Healy was ahead with 28 percent, or 15,554 votes when the elections office closed late Tuesday. Louis Manzo, was second with 12,969 votes, or 24 percent, and Council President L. Harvey Smith, the city's acting mayor, was third with 11,936 votes, or 22 percent.

: Those figures represented 166 of 184 precincts and were unofficial results, according to Hilda Rosario with the Hudson County clerk's office. They do not include absentee or provisional ballots, she said.

: "We don't have completed precinct totals," Rosario said.

: Still, Healy declared victory Tuesday night in the race to fill the unexpired term of Glenn D. Cunningham, the city's first black mayor, who died of a heart attack earlier this year.

: "I told people a week ago, it's not going to be as close as everybody says," Healy said.

: Six months after Cunningham's death, his presence could still be felt in the race for his replacement, which included several candidates who had direct ties to him.

: Manzo ran with Cunningham in the November 2003 legislative races, and Councilman Steve Lipski was one of his strongest supporters on the nine-member council.

: Other candidates included former City Councilwoman Willie Flood, who was chairwoman of the political organization Cunningham founded, along with Hosam Mansour, Hilario Nunez, Dwayne Baskerville, Alfred Pine, Thomas Short and Isaiah Gadsden.

: The number of candidates made it a difficult choice for some voters, like Lilla Graham, 83, a retired nurse's aide.

: "Honey, it was too much, too much," Graham said after voting at a local senior citizen center.

: Tuesday's race for control of the state's second largest city, and one of its strongest economic engines, is to fill Cunningham's unexpired term ending June 30. A separate election is to fill his state Senate term.

: Unlike a regular mayoral election, which requires more than 50 percent of the vote, the candidate who receives the most votes in the special election wins.

: The race evoked memories of Jersey City's 1992 special election to fill the unexpired term of former Mayor Gerald McCann, who was ousted following a federal bank fraud conviction. That race featured 19 candidates, and launched Bret Schundler's political career when he won with just 18 percent of the vote.

: McCann also figured into the Tuesday's campaign, when the Manzo camp drew criticism for using the ousted mayor as a campaign adviser.

: Healy, one of the critics, drew unwanted attention after he was photographed naked outside his house in August.

: The councilman said he suspected McCann played a role in publicizing the photograph, which was taken by a teenager walking past his house. Calling the incident a "dirty political trick," Healy said he was lured outside by a noise and someone pulled a towel off him. McCann denied having anything to do with the photograph's posting online. 
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