Sure, Miami, Chicago, Gary, New Orleans and some other cities in the United States have a reputation for dirty politics, and I'm sure those cities deserve it.
But Jersey City stands in a class by itself. For over 90 years it has had the most consistently dirty politics of any state in the country.
But yesterday, a race for the Ward City seat on the Jersey City Council seems to have brought "dirty" to a whole new level.
Jersey City Ward C City Council candidate Nidia Lopez said a hacker broke into her Facebook page over the weekend and sent out links to pornographic videos to about 74 supporters.
"I'm very upset about it," she said. She said she didn't know if the message was sent by an opposing candidate, "but if it is, shame on them."
Of course, one could argue that it's just par for the course.
From 1917 to 1947, Frank "I am the Law" Hague served as a virtual dictator of Jersey City, stopping at nothing to win.
A report on Hudson election fraud in 1921 by a committee in the NJ state legislature said that "A saturnalia of crime was committed in many voting districts in the county of Hudson. With shocking disregard of established law, many voters were intimidated by Democratic workers at the polls, and in many instances thereby prevented from exercising the right of suffrage guaranteed by the Constitution ..."
In the late 30's, Republican investigators tried to bring him down, but he put obstacles in their way that proved insurmountable.
From a February 2, 1938 New York Times article, a description of a state legislative committee's unsuccessful attempt to get their hands on Hudson County poll books, which almost certainly contained large amounts of evidence of massive voter fraud:
"Frustration that came in bewildering forms on every side left an investigating committee of New Jersey legislators virtually exhausted as to legal resources last night in its attempt to get possession of Hudson County poll books ...
Deprived by a technicality of law of the assistance of State troopers, the committee delegated its authority to a lone Essex County under-sheriff. He attempted a physical assault on the vault, but was thrown back into the arms of the committeemen by two Hudson County police officers, who stood with arms spread across the steel doors."
Unfortunately, by October 1940, just as they thought they were getting close to getting their hands on the 1937 poll books, ... "acting City Clerk Bernard J. Rosengard revealed in New Jersey Supreme Court that the records were reduced to ashes eight months ago in the incinerator at City Hall."
They never did get Frank Hague.
The next mayor to be elected to a full term, John V. Kenny, held onto the Hudson machine for a while, until 1970, when he was convicted of masterminding a conspiracy extorting $3 million from businessmen and contractors.
He went to jail, along with "the Hudson Eight," which included then-Mayor of Jersey City Thomas J. Whelan, Thomas Flaherty (President of the Jersey City City Council), the Hudson County Chief of Police, the Hudson County Treasurer, the Hudson County Democratic chairman, the New Jersey Commission of the Port Authority, and a city purchasing agent and business administrator.
This wasn't the last of the imprisoned mayors. Gerald McCann went to jail in 1992 for savings and loan fraud.
And in the 2004 election of current mayor Jerramiah Healy, things were just as crazy as they'd been 90 years ago, except cartridges were used instead of poll books.
HERE were photographs of one candidate slumped naked on his porch after a night of drinking. There was a former mayor -- convicted and jailed in the early 1990's for bank fraud -- running an opponent's campaign. There was a dead cat and a dead rat left on the front step of another candidate's headquarters.
...
Only in Jersey City, heart and soul of infamous Hudson County, where Election Day high jinks are a time-honored tradition.
...
When the Hudson County Clerk, Javier Inclan, was counting electronic cartridges that contained the votes, he discovered that 18 of them were missing -- though three of them were later found. It was unclear where the remaining cartridges had gone.
Maybe they were taken home by poll workers, Mr. Inclan speculated, or perhaps they were still inside the electronic voting machines.
But even so, I think "dickrolling" your opponent takes things to a new level.
So does Nidia Lopez
Please be advised that Ms. Lopez's facebook page was hacked and the videos that you might have received from her facebook page were not sent out by Nidia R. Lopez nor her campaign. Her facebook account was hacked and we are researching Ms.Lopez’s legal recourse. We apologize for these unfortunate circumstances and we are confident that this matter will be corrected very soon. It has become obvious that Nidia's opposition for the City Council has become desperately worried that Nidia's message for change and her candidacy has become a serious threat to their efforts. Unfortunately they will stop at nothing to deter her. Nidia is committed to providing strong leadership with the utmost integrity. Now, more than ever before, Ward C needs a leader that rises above the fray and truly represents the needs of the people and not themselves. Ms. Lopez's opponents unfortunately want to resort to immature pranks and a smear campaign because they do not possess a platform nor solutions to address the issues facing the Journal Square residents.
The one thing that disturbs me? If it was a "smear campaign," that suggests some pretty disturbing content.