Are you ready to vote? Vote by Mail ballots will be going out April 20th for the hot June Primary Election for Mayor of Perth Amboy.
Three Democrat candidates are running for Perth Amboy Mayor, Helmin Caba, Joesph Vas Jr and Kenneth Gonzalez. Both Joesph Vas Jr and Kenneth Gonzalez have said that they are unhappy with the current leadership.
Vas said “Perth Amboy is broken, it’s not safe to walk the streets, residents can’t afford the rents or the taxes, and there is an ever-diminishing lack of quality of life and democracy. If we don’t do something about the City’s problems now, it will only get worse. “
Gonzalez said “In recent years I have seen a sharp decline in quality of life and community standards. I have witnessed an increase in crime, and I have unfortunately seen our city deteriorate compared to the rest of the county.”
Perth Amboy voters have expressed concern that the two change candidates, Vas and Gonzalez, could knock each other out, instead of defeating the incumbent Mayor Caba who got the party’s endorsement. Vas and Gonzalez called the party’s nomination process undemocratic, since the committee people did not directly select the candidates to endorse, but voted to endorse what an executive panel recommended. It is not surprising that without a secret ballot, the local dems would endorse their chair, Helmin Caba.
June Democratic Primary voters are in a powerful position to determine the future of Perth Amboy, since as a Democratic stronghold, whoever wins the June Primary for the Democrats in Perth Amboy will likely be the winner for Mayor in November. Though the Primary election in June has a lower voter turnout than the general election in November, make no mistake the real election for Mayor of Perth Amboy is June 4th. In 2020, the presidential wave turned out Perth Amboy voters who voted 70% for Biden. This can be expected for 2024, with whoever Democrats pick in June winning big in November. Whoever loses the Democratic primary cannot run in November, even as an independent.
Mayor Caba and his administration worked hard to make Perth Amboy partisan, which would have placed the Mayor “on the line” on the Democratic primary ballot. But now, the power of the line is being taken away to make a more fair process for candidates seeking office. A judge recently shut down the design of the NJ ballot where the line had been giving candidates a 35% advantage in elections.
Without any debate or interviews, its hard for voters to know where the Mayoral candidates stand on the issues. Vas has said top issues for him are policing, code enforcement, rent control and public participation. Gonzalez has said that policing, quality of life and the city’s historic district plan are top issues.
Residents have noticed that there hasn’t been a State of the City address in over 2 years. Mayor Caba has not been laying out his plans for Perth Amboy. Caba had sent out a mailer with a Performing Arts Center and Ferry Service coming soon, but nothing has been presented to the public.
Important information for voting in the June Primary-
Vote by Mail Ballots go out April 20
Early Voting May 29-June 2
In Person Voting June 4
New Jersey Voter Information Portal https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/vote.shtml
