Assembly Candidate Slams Union City Mayor for Urging Voters to Switch Parties

Assembly candidate Katie Brennan is criticizing Union City Mayor and State Senator Brian Stack for urging Republican voters to temporarily switch party affiliation to vote in the Democratic primary. Brennan, who recently announced her candidacy alongside Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, called Stack’s move a direct challenge to Democratic voters’ rights.

“What message does this send to Democratic voters?” Brennan wrote in a tweet. “Now, [Democrats] in Hudson County have no say in who the party runs for office — even elected members of the [Democratic] county committee. [Democrat] voters should choose [Democrat] nominees. [Republican] voters should choose [Republican] nominees. It’s really that simple.”

Stack’s letter, which was mailed to voters, framed the party-switching request as a way to combat Hudson County’s “political machine.” He argued that political bosses were working to defeat his endorsed candidates, Gabriel Rodriguez and Larry Wainstein, and ultimately remove him as mayor and senator.

“If possible, I’m asking you to temporarily switch your party affiliation from Republican to Democrat so you can vote for my Assembly candidates,” Stack wrote, adding that he would assist voters in switching back after the election.

Eric Allen Conner, a Jersey City committee member with the Hudson County Democratic Organization, also denounced the request. “Not only do committee members get no say on who the party endorses, you’re out there trying to solicit Republicans to vote in the Democratic primary?” he wrote on social media. “You sending this out in LD31 and LD32 too?”

New Jersey law allows voters to change their party affiliation before a primary. The deadline to switch party affiliation in time for the June 10 primary is April 10.