The last Republican Congressman from Hudson County was Vincent J. Dellay, a twenty-year state employee — he was an auditor in the State Treasurer's office — who ousted freshman Democratic Rep. Thomas James Tummulty. How did a Republican win? Dwight Eisenhower carried Hudson County in his 1956 re-election campaign, and he had coattails.
Dellay served just one term in Congress before the district went back to the Democratic column in '58. In an effort to hold his seat, he swicthed parties, but the Hudson Democratic machine went with Albert Sieminski instead. He ran as an independent, lost, and returned to his state job, where he served until his retirement in 1971. He died in 1999 at age 92.
Don't feel sorry for Tummulty, a former Assembly Minority Leader and Jersey City Corporation Counsel under Mayor Frank Hague whose uncle was Woodrow Wilson's Karl Rove: after losing his congressional seat, he went on to hold higher office — Deputy Mayor of Jersey City.
