Hudson County Dems Sweep District 33 Races

With most precincts reporting, Democrats appear to have maintained their firm hold on New Jersey's 33rd District, with incumbent Brian Stack and newcomers Carmelo Garcia and Raj Mukherji coasting to comfortable victories over their Republican opponents in the reliably Democratic district's state senate and assembly races, according to election returns available on the Hudson County Clerk's website.

Stack, the mayor of Union City since 2000, and one of Hudson County's most influential power brokers, has a nearly 60 percentage point lead on Republican challenger James Sanford with 87 percent of precincts reporting, according to the clerk's website. The win earns Stack his fourth consecutive two-year term as a state senator.

Mukherji, the 29-year-old deputy mayor of Jersey City and chairman of the Jersey City Housing Authority, and Garcia, a Hoboken Board of Education trustee and executive director of the Hoboken Housing Authority, have each likely staked claim to a state assembly seat. Both are cruising with 20 percentage point leads over Republicans Jude Anthony Tiscornia and Armando Hernandez with 87 percent of polling places reporting.

Garcia, a polarizing figure in Hoboken, has said previously that he would step down from the Hoboken school board, if elected, but that he plans to stay on as HHA director, in which capacity he's championed a public housing re-development project dubbed Vision 20/20 that has generated significant controversy in town.

All three Democratic winners crossed party lines to endorse Republican Chris Christie for governor, whom Stack has said is one of the most responsive and impressive state leaders he's ever worked with.

In the Hudson County Sheriff's race, Democrat Frank Schillari, a retired Secaucus police sergeant and undersheriff for 13 years, easily held off four challengers to win a second term. Schillari has garnered more than 70 percent of the vote with 95 percent of precincts in, according to the clerk's website.