It hasn’t been ugly.

Maybe anywhere else it would be.

But not in Bayonne.

By Bayonne standards it’s been capital.

It’s been a study in civility and urbanity.

Of course, that looks likely to change; in fact, it just did change, at least by the appearance of a mailer that went out last week, the first of its kind in which former Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell (D-31) actually winds up and takes a swing at incumbent Mayor Jimmy Davis.

“It certainly will not be the intention of my campaign to sling mud or be negative,” O’Donnell wrote to residents. “But as I challenge the current administration, my campaign will point out their failures and we will offer real solutions.”

Then he went there.

“You may have read about the current scandal that involves the Mayor and his activity regarding harassment of a former female employee,” he noted. “Unfortunately, the current Mayor’s personal behavior has caused two lawsuits that could have Bayonne taxpayers on the hook for millions of dollars for his reckless activity that involved poor judgment and character that is not fit for the office of Mayor. Again, it is not my intention to be contentious, but rather we wish to educate voters about issues that will impact all of us.”

A source – clearly an O’Donnell sympathizer – who read that letter referred to the scene in Goodfellas when Jimmy Conway fastens on the idea that he will be taking Morrie out for a spin.

But the Davis allies are hardly concerned.

They say O’Donnell has been insinuating and telegraphing and social media shaming the incumbent for weeks, and they see it as the act of a desperate man who knows he’s behind in the polls and knows he has no other recourse but to yank Davis into a mud wrestling contest.