The chances of State Sen. Brian Stack becoming the next Hudson County Democratic Chairman were substantially increased on Tuesday after Stack won 90% of the vote in his bid for re-election as the Mayor of Union City. Stack’s gigantic win against a credible opponent, Frank Scarafile, was a reaffirmation of his political skills – the kind he showed three years ago when he ran off the line for Senate and obliterated Assemblyman/West New York Mayor Sal Vega with 73% of the vote. U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, who has demonstrated similar skills during his 36-year political career, seems to favor Stack as the right guy to lead the Hudson County Democratic Organization. (To win, Democrats need to reverse the new math: in 2009, Christopher Christie won Ocean County by more than Jon Corzine won Essex, and he won Monmouth by more than Corzine won Hudson. Combined, Christie carried the two shore counties by 134,267 votes, while Corzine carried the two Democratic machine counties by 115,783.) It’s now up to Stack to decide if he has the fire in the belly to take the job, and it’s up to the Hudson County mayors to decide if they want him.
