HILLSDALE—A number of prominent local Republicans are challenging councilman Zoltán Horváth’s filing to run on the Independent party ballot line as a mayoral candidate following his unsuccessful bid to qualify as a Republican mayoral candidate during a write-in effort on the primary election ballot.
The Republicans are challenging Horváth’s mayoral candidacy on the Independent line, which he filed for by the June 6 deadline, as being in violation of New Jersey’s “sore loser law.”
Challenging are Republican County Committee Chair Jim Comville, vice chair Chris Scalia, and councilwoman Abby Lundy.
If he is allowed to continue his run for mayor, Horváth squares off against former councilman Republican Frank Pizzella and Democrat Michael Sheinfield, who both ran uncontested in the June 6 primaries. Horvath’s second council term ends Dec. 31.
Mayor John Ruocco, who often wins Horváth’s minority support on council, is running unopposed for a council seat — as is Republican newcomer Clemente Osso.
The sore loser law prohibits candidates who run an unsuccessful write-in campaign to subsequently file and run as an Independent candidate or candidate of another party on the Nov. 7 General Election ballot.
Following an unsuccessful write-in campaign where Horváth garnered 63 write-in votes for mayor on the Republican party line, he submitted a petition, with about 176 signatures, to run on the Independent ballot line.
Pascack Press connected with Horváth on June 13 seeking comment, but he declined to remark on the challenge until a decision was made by the County Clerk’s Office. That decision was expected after our weekly print deadline. (Check PascackPress.com for story updates.)
After receiving the challenge, the County Clerk’s Elections Division Office acknowledged recept, telling Lundy the objection will be reviewed, and a determination of the petition challenge will be made by Thursday, June 15, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 19:13-11.
Horváth was not selected by the Bergen County Republican Committee to run again for the council. He wrote Pascack Press in May first to announce his write-in campaign for either mayor or council, and then to criticize Lundy over her letter in response, May 8.
She said in part, “Councilman Horváth was offered a seat on the Finance Committee this year to assist in formulating the budget. He turned it down. Why? He was offered the liaison position to the Planning Board and turned it down. Why? Why would an elected official refuse to sit on two of the most important committees and boards?
She said, “What accomplishments can the councilman site in his seven-year tenure? Did he advocate for field and recreation improvements? He did not. Did he vote in favor of infrastructure and equipment improvements or upgrades that would benefit the town? He did not.
And she said, “To the councilman, I would say, please tell the voters why it is you’re seeking election (or re-election) other than that you feel slighted. What have you done for Hillsdale in your capacity as an elected official and why should residents vote for you? If elected, will you once again refuse to govern on behalf of those who cast their vote for you? Your record tells the story but perhaps I’m missing something.”
On May 15, Horváth asserted that Lundy “put out a nasty and defensive hit piece about me.” He said, “She and her council friends, and some members of the Republican Committee, are upset at my running as an independent for mayor in my quest to speak up for the disenfranchised and overtaxed residents of Hillsdale.”
He said, “Lundy criticized my two-term council record but neglected to mention all the positions and committees and subcommittees I conscientiously served on with other council members. If I accomplished nothing while I was on those committees, then her lies can be extended to those I served with.”
And, he said, “She ignored my 10-year contiguous involvement on the Planning Board, where I had direct involvement and voted on hundreds of important projects in protecting, building, and making Hillsdale the bucolic town that it is today.”
Editor’s note: In May, Scalia wrote a letter of his own, giving background from the county Republican committee perspective, “Dirty laundry in Hillsdale politics,” that itself drew a critique by Ruocco, “Response on Hillsdale Republicans.”
Prior ‘Sore Loser’ case
The state’s sore loser law was upheld by a Superior Court judge in a similar situation in Colts Neck in 2022, when an unsuccessful primary write-in candidate filed to run as an Independent candidate in the General Election for the Township Committee.
The judge upheld the law and said the candidate was free to run an Independent write-in campaign.