Bayonne’s mayoral candidates are feeling confident as the waning days of the May 8 election come to a close.
Incumbent Mayor Jimmy Davis’s team and former Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell said they felt confident about their chances on Tuesday, and neither campaign shows any sign of slowing before what promises to be a close election.
While O’Donnell has a slate of events and a get out the vote operation planned on each day through the election, part of Davis’s Friday was spent announcing a waterfront walkway alongside some of the state’s top Democrats, including Gov. Phil Murphy, Deputy Senate Majority Leader Sandra Cunningham and Assemblywoman Angela McKnight.
Though the two have known each other for years – Davis said they went out to dinner after he was elected in 2014 – Murphy has not endorsed Davis, making clear during his appearance that the event was purely governmental, not political.
“Today is about good government, and good government cooperation, in particular between the state and the community.” Murphy said. “No politics today.”
Of the state officials that flanked Davis Friday afternoon, only Cunningham has signed on to openly support his reelection.
Given the historically close nature of Bayonne’s mayoral elections and O’Donnell’s former position as a state legislator, it’s not clear how much this institutional support – or the appearance thereof – will help Davis on Tuesday.
Despite that, Davis spokesman Phil Swibinski was more confident than O’Donnell that the race would be decided without going to a runoff.
“I think it’ll be pretty close. Historically, bayonne elections historically are always pretty close. But, we’re very confident,” Swibinski said. “We are confident that we can win in the first ballot. With three candidates in the race, there’s always the possibility of a run-off, just with the math, but we like our chances.”
O’Donnell was less sure that Dr. Mitchell Brown’s campaign would not have the two candidates running until June.
“I don’t know. It’s certainly a possibility, you have three candidates, it’s certainly a possibility,” O’Donnell said of the possibility of a runoff election. “I don’t know what the turnout’s going to be. I think we’re prepared. If it’s a runoff, we’ll hit the ground running on Wednesday morning.”
Bayonne’s 2014 mayoral election was pushed to a runoff after former boxer Anthony Zanowic took just 4% of the vote.
In either case, the next Bayonne mayor will heavily impact the ongoing power struggle between Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise and a handful of influential mayors in the county. Davis supports DeGise, and a victory would give DeGise a slate of county committee members willing to vote against making Brian Stack, a state senator and mayor of Union City, chair of the county party.
O’Donnell, on the other hand, has so far stayed conspicuously clear of the countywide conflict.
“Look, it’s very easy to lose your focus in this business. We’ve been so focused on May 8th,” O’Donnell said. “There’s all kinds of things always going on in Hudson county, as you know, so we’ve really, really been disciplined to stay focused.”
But that doesn’t mean he won’t weigh if he wins the election.
“If I win, we’ll sit down and figure out what’s best for Bayonne,” O’Donnell said.