Amy DeGise Invades Hoboken
Vying for the chairmanship of the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO), Amy DeGise went into the mile-square city this evening in search of county committee votes.
Hoboken is Stack country, the scepter of the realm wielded by Mayor Ravi Bhalla, who backs DeGise’s rival in this fight to lead the Democratic Party in the county with the state’s biggest Democratic Party plurality.
But DeGise thinks she can peel away some support from Bhalla, whose victory last year didn’t completely neutralize local party rivals, including Councilman Mike DeFusco and Hudson County Freeholder Anthony Romano.
“There are a lot of open-minded independent thinkers over here,” DeGise told InsiderNJ as she made the rounds. “Having a one on one conversation with committee members, we have a lot in common.”
DeGise planned to attend a fundraiser this evening at Pilsener House for Democrat Andy Kim, who’s running for the 3rd Congressional District seat currently occupied by U.S. Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-3).
Amy won the night. She came, talked respectfully to people around the room one on one, and people saw her make a contribution. She stayed until the very end. Stack left before the event started, to go who knows where. It gave the impression that he didn’t care, and he probably didn’t. He’s said he’s not a party guy anyway. Don’t know if he contributed. Amy’s performance may have been an act but at least it was a good act. If Stack wants to be a good party chair he needs to learn to talk with people who care about more than constituent services and local issues.