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Think about it: I know Chris, and he wouldn’t be in the same room, much less on the same block, if he had so much as a hint that Stack is crooked. Christie knows what the invesigators who used to work for him have, and what they don’t: He’s not about to jeopardize his shot at the State House just to make an appearance in hostile Democratic territory.
Which brings us to the extra political twist that made the event so interesting….
Stack is a Democrat and state Senator for the 33rd District who, to this point, hasn’t said whether he is endorsing growingly popular Christie or the incument governor, Jon Corzine.
Given Hudson’s firmly Democratic base — not to mention all those arrests of mostly Democratic office- holders — Stack’s support would be key in this November’s election.
The same can’t be said of his Democratic mayoral counterparts, Hoboken’s Peter Cammarano and Secaucus’ Daniel Elwell, who resigned amid criminal charges, and Ridgefield’s Anthony Suaraez, who has held fast to his post despite Corzine’s threat to take over township operations if he doesn’t quit. All are headed for either plea deals or trials.
Guttenberg lost its mayor last year when a federal jury in Newark convicted David Delle Donna of corruption charges. That leaves Jersey City’s Jerremiah Healy and North Bergen’s Nicholas Sacco, a Democrat who also holds a state Senate seat, as the only major mayors in the county not tainted by the probe.
Jerry DeMarco
That Christie chose Stack for tonight’s high-profile event — while boasting a 14-point lead over Corzine in one poll — speaks volumes.
An area newspaper tried linking the mayor to a $4,000 campaign contribution that, according to a government complaint, an FBI operative made to a Stack political action group.
But look closer: Nowhere does the complaint even suggest that Stack participated directly — in contrast to complaints against his fellow mayors.
It doesn’t even mention him by name.
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