When Jersey City Mayor-elect Steve Fulop assumes the oath of office he will have a 7-2 city council.
In tonight’s runoff election, Fulop increased his majority on the council, with two independents who are not Fulop’s enemies filling the balance.
Assemblyman Sean Connors (D-33), a former Jerry Healy loyalist who ran with the Fulop Team, lost to independent newcomer Michael Yun.
Ward C Councilwoman Nidia Lopez, a Fulop Team member, also lost, to retired Jersey City cop Richard Boggiano, who ran as an independent.
In the end, none of Healy’s allies survived.
It was a particularly shocking end for Connors, who had the backing of the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO) when he became an assemblyman in 2011.
A popular neighborhood detective, he turned bar revelers in the Heights into bitter antagonists when he surfaced on Team Fulop this year, infuriating Healy partisans who saw him as the ultimate opportunist.
His demise as a newly branded Fulopite enabled the mayor-elect to extricate himself from someone who had shown a kean willingness to attack Fulop on behalf of the HCDO before he joined forces with him.
His loss also stung former Mayor Gerry McCann, who mentored Connors.
