Chiaravalloti will run off the line in primary to keep Assembly seat

Assembly Majority Whip Nicholas Chiaravalloti (D-Bayonne) will mount an off the line primary bid after Hudson County Democrats denied him part support for re-election to a fourth term.

“I am in public service because I love my community, and I am filing my petitions to seek re-election to the Assembly because I want to continue to make Bayonne, Jersey City and Hudson County an even greater place to live and work,” Chiaravalloti said.

Hudson Democrats are honoring a party peace treaty negotiated nearly two decades ago that allows the mayor of Bayonne to pick the one candidate for State Assembly in the 31st district.

Mayor Jimmy Davis, once a strong Chiaravalloti ally, has decided to dump the assemblyman – he won’t say why – and back William B. Sampson IV, a 32-year-old crane operator at the Port of Bayonne and International Longshoreman’s Association Local 1588 union leader.

Chiaravalloti argues that his legislative accomplishments ought to outweigh the political deal Davis made to drop him from the organization line.

“From securing funding for Bayonne’s schools, the walkway project, and the pedestrian bridge over 440, to raising the minimum wage, establishing the Community College Opportunity Grant Program, revising civil asset forfeiture procedures, providing pre-k for all and standing up for our senior citizens and immigrant brothers and sisters, I am proud of the pragmatic, progressive record of results we have achieved,” Chiaravalloti said.