Zimmer had money, better field operations, and former Hoboken 4th Ward Councilman Andrew Amato.
While Campos is expected to challenge the results of an election that left him seven votes short on election night, many reformers who backed Zimmer are cheering this as a new day for the reform party, although in truth, the political landscape seems to lean in favor of Councilman Michael Russo, who may be able to cobble together six of the nine City Council votes.
As in the May election, Campos was leading in results tabulated from the voting machines, but lost the election when Zimmer produced 145 absentee ballots.
While campaign manager Doug Snyder is credited with turning the Zimmer election around, some political observers noted that Amato, an old guard politician of classic Hoboken politics, has long used absentee ballots in this way to swing elections. Why someone as much part of Old Hoboken as Amato is would join the reformers campaign has been asked in numerous quarters, although most likely, he may be seeking an appointment as the city's senior citizens' programs director.
Campos was also hurt by the fact the fading influence of Mayor Dave Roberts and state Sen. Bernard Kenny, whose organizational talents might have helped counter some of the Zimmer surge.
The runoff elections for City Council in Hoboken left politics in a curious limbo as reformers made significant gains. With Roberts no longer a political force, the council looks as if it will be dominated by those allied with Councilman Russo.
The nine-member council will be split into factions, with Zimmer (should she emerge victorious) and 5th Ward Councilman-elect Peter Cunningham representing the most solid block of the reform movement. While 2nd Ward Councilwoman-elect Beth Mason is also considered a reformer, many believe she will vote independently of the reform block on occasion.
Russo and 1st Ward Councilwoman Terry Castellano are at the heart of Old Hoboken faction and will likely be able to count on support of re-elected 6th Ward Councilman Nino Giacchi and incumbent Councilman-at-Large Peter Cammerano on most issues. Ruben Ramos, who just won the Democratic Primary for state Assembly, will likely benefit from the divided council. Terry LaBruno, who is the last of the loyal supporters for Roberts, will likely finish out this term and fade from local politics as Roberts leaves the scene.
Although not happy with Campos loss, newly re-elected Hoboken Democratic Chairman Maurice Fitzgibbons said this municipal election was "a wakeup call" to future candidates, who will pay more attention some of the details of this election.
Ramos, of course, handed the reform movement a tough loss when he romped over Carol Marsh in the Democratic primary for Assembly. Reformers were hoping if Marsh could have generated a good vote in Hoboken against Ramos, she might run for council or mayor again in the future.
Although the City Council is divided, Hoboken should see relative peace through next year until after next year's school board elections and freeholder primary. The real divisions on the council will likely begin to show as people begin to position themselves for the 2009 municipal elections.
It's my party and I'll cry if I want to
In a move that will hardly heal the wounds of the 2007 Democratic Primary, State Assemblyman and Union City Mayor Brian Stack was expected to continue the operations of the "Democrats for Hudson County" party that he led in opposition to the traditional Hudson County Democratic Organization.
With rival meetings held on the same night, the DFHC and the HCDO were expected to name their leadership, with Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner to chair Stack's DHFC and Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy to chair the HCDO.
In establishing his own countywide political party, Stack is expected to draw on key people such as Assemblyman Louis Manzo, Sheriff Joe Cassidy, and the other candidates who ran on DFHC ticket throughout the county as well as from independent opposition candidates in various communities
While rumors had suggested that failed Assembly candidate Nicholas Chiaravalloti was being considered for chair of the DFHC, recent reports that Bayonne Mayor Joseph Doria may take a job with the state may have Chiaravalloti running for mayor in a special election in November.
Doria, of course, has been debating an offer for a state job for weeks. Of two jobs rumored, an appointment as state Commissioner of Education would require him to leave his post as state Senator as well as mayor in Bayonne, creating a huge political vacuum and an election that could rehash the future development of the former Military Ocean Terminal.
Some are beginning to see Doria as a lame duck mayor, similar to Roberts in Hoboken and Sal Vega in West New York.
The primary's impact remains unclear for the future, although there were some curious aspects.
While Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy is seen as the big winner in the countywide Democratic civil war, in truth, it was the African-American community particularly in Jersey City's Ward F that saved the HCDO, not Healy. A bad sign for the HCDO is the fact that state Sen. and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco lost Jersey City Heights against newcomer Sean Connors, suggesting that Sacco ally and Heights Councilman Bill Gaughan could not deliver. This means Connors may challenge Gaughan for the City Council seat in 2009.
Sacco, of course, slapped Stack's hand this week in a power play in the freeholder board that voted to replace Stack ally and Union City Commissioner Christopher F. Irizarry with long-time Stack rival Jose Falto as a trustee on the board for the Schools of Technology.
While Sacco already controls the Schools of Technology, this is seen as a foreshadowing to the next big fight in the county between the DFHC and the HCDO, which will involve the freeholder board as Healy and Jersey City attempt to secure a fifth vote on the freeholder board. Stack, of course, will try to block the move.
If history is any guide, Stack's attempt to start a new wing of the Democratic Party in Hudson County is bound to fail.
Matty Amato, a columnist for the Hudson Reporter, says only Union City Mayor Bill Musto ever came close, and he needed the help of some of the most clever and powerful allies in the county at the time.
"Even he couldn't make it work," Amato said. "Nobody else even came close."
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