New Jersey political boss Brian Stack is a “human turnout machine.” That’s how the New Jersey Globe described the kingmaker Democrat who serves both as mayor of Union City and state senator representing the Garden State’s 33rd district.
The newspaper wasn’t wrong. Stack, according to the Globe’s fawning feature story, turned out 28% of registered Democrats in Union City for the 2019 primary, “despite the lack of any competitive races.” Even the controversial pol’s harshest critics tip their hats to his Get-Out-The-Vote prowess.
It’s Slack’s turnout tactics over the past 20 years — from his densely populated Democrat enclave overlooking the Hudson River and Gotham — that have raised election integrity red flags. And this critical election year is no different.
‘Belly of the Beast’
Multiple sources in New Jersey grassroots politics tell The Federalist that the “human turnout machine” is putting his thumb on the election scale, alleging that the boss and his leftist army of Hudson County campaigners are engaging in everything from electioneering on government property to corrupting election inspectors.
“I like to say Union City is the belly of the beast when it comes to this kind of thing. It’s been going on for years. [Democrats] are so comfortable because they’ve never been held accountable,” Marco Navarro, an Emergency Medical Technician and Republican candidate for New Jersey’s 37th Legislative District, told The Federalist in an interview. The seat has not been held by a Republican in more than 50 years.
Navarro, who, according to a Facebook post, “leads the amphibious attack against corrupt elected officials like Brian Stack,” said the Democrat has “perfected a political machine.” The U.S. Marine Corps veteran and several other Union City sources who spoke to The Federalist claim Stack has powered that machine through a “pay to play” operation of fundraising and political favors. He runs it, they say, with an iron fist and a nasty fear-loaded uppercut.
‘It is a Criminal Offense’
“People are terrified of Stack,” said Leonard Filipowski, an investigative reporter who goes by Leroy Truth on his social media accounts and website. “This is not normal. This is something you see in movies.”
Filipowski has been covering the Stack political machine for the better part of the last two years, and he’s got the bruises to prove it. He’s been thrown out of city and legislative meetings, arrested, and charged (later dismissed by a judge). And he says he’s received a bundle of threats, including a violent and menacing series of texts this week telling him that he’s going to be “famous” on Nov. 5, the day after the election.
Filipowski earlier this week reported live from outside City Hall, near one of Union City’s 10 mobile voting trailers. The video shows a political poster from the “Stack Team.” Yes, that Stack, with a headshot of the mayor/senator aside Democrat candidate for governor, Mikie Sherrill, and three state Assembly candidates backed by the Hudson County Democratic Organization — effectively run by, yes, that Stack.
The sign, as Filipowski and a colleague noted, was located well within 100 feet of the early-voting site. As leftist New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin notes, “it is a criminal offense to solicit voters or electioneer within a ‘protective zone’ around polling locations,” or within 100 feet from the outside entrance of any polling site. It would appear that the mayor/senator, who should be well acquainted with New Jersey election law, violated election law.
Filipowski and other Union City sources said the sign had been taken down late Tuesday afternoon, but “Team Stack” and other Dem candidate posters remained at locations near mobile voting stations.
Stack did not return The Federalist’s multiple requests for comment. Someone did answer Stack’s personal cellphone Tuesday evening, but quickly hung up.
Jose Guerrido Jr., a retired Department of Public Works employee, provided The Federalist with video of the political signs, pointing to a Democrat campaign office near city hall.
“I went to the corner, there were two of them, one facing one side, another facing the other side up to Palisade Avenue. They are within 100 feet [of the voting station],” Guerrido said.
‘There is Nothing to Discuss’
An official in the city clerk’s election division told The Federalist Tuesday afternoon that she didn’t believe there had been any election-related complaints other than a sample ballots issue. She referred the matter to another election official, who did not return The Federalist’s call.
The Hudson County GOP also did not return requests for comment. Asked about the alleged election law violations, Republican State Committee Executive Director Kate Gibbs said, “At this point, there is nothing to discuss about Union City.” Gibbs did not return a follow-up email asking whether the committee had heard from Hudson County Republicans about concerns over the mayor and his administration’s handling of the election.
GOP National Press Secretary Kiersten Pels said the RNC is “actively tracking the situation to ensure voters can cast their ballots freely and that election laws are enforced without delay.”
“The RNC takes reports of electioneering seriously and immediately escalated concerns to local officials in Hudson County,” Pels said in a statement to The Federalist.
Guerrido has reported a number of election law violations in Union City over the years. He said the complaints have gone nowhere. In 2017, he said, Stack confronted him one day and asked why he had yet to vote in that year’s election. The senator was up for reelection. Guerrido said he was too preoccupied with his disabled daughter’s health needs at the time.
“Once I voted, two weeks later he thanked me for voting. How did he know who in city government votes and doesn’t vote?” the Union City resident said. “The county said he’s allowed to get a list, but how does he know I didn’t vote? Nobody does nothing without him. Everybody is scared.”
‘Do What the Political Boss Asks You to Do’
A source with a knowledge of the inner workings of the Union City “political machine” claims local elections are plagued with voter fraud, voter bribes, and Democrat Party interests campaigning on government property and taxpayer time. In an interview with The Federalist, the source, who asked not to identified for fear of retaliation, said he knows of campaigning on city government property occurring this week.
The source noted a government employee who was part of a Stack-approved elections investigation team. He said a Union City resident sought help with a hefty city services bill. The election investigator told the man to see the mayor after learning the citizen and his wife had yet to register to vote.
“Stack’s office paid his bill,” the source said. The man told the elections inspector that the mayor’s office expected that he and his wife would register to vote, vote for the mayor’s preferred candidates, and even hand out campaign fliers. The couple did all of the above, according to the source.
“You’re going to do what the political boss asks you to do,” the source said, adding that the man’s wife is now working for Union City elections.
‘An Advantage for Union City’
For a mayor of a compact New Jersey city of some 70,000 people, Stack sure seems to have massive political sway. As Filipowski (Leroy Truth) points out, Stack holds the power trifecta — serving in, or at least influencing, the executive, legislative and judicial branches. He also serves as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Stack used his powerful position to sponsor and push through a bill extending the early voting period for New Jersey primary elections. More time to harvest votes for his favorite candidates.
Union City is allowed to operate 10 mobile voting sites, seven more polling locations than North Bergen, a Hudson County city with about 10,000 fewer residents. It’s been a point of contention. North Bergen representatives earlier this year filed a lawsuit asserting the current imbalance “clearly creates an advantage for Union City,” reports New Jersey Insider.
The Hudson County Board of Elections shrugged off requests for more polling places in harder to reach communities in part because Union City chooses to pay for additional mobile trailers out of its own budget, including delivery, rental costs, portable restrooms and generators, for use during early voting.”
‘Pay to Play Culture’
Stack has faced his share of accusations and complaints about how he has wielded his power. A Transparency NJ report from 2014 shows Union City paid $150,000 to settle an employee’s retaliation lawsuit. Former Planning Board Attorney Mateo Perez claimed Stack had “created a political machine to foster a ‘pay to play’ culture in Hudson County with the primary purpose of promoting, protecting and maintaining Mayor Stack’s political power in Union City and the 33rd District, in particular, and Hudson County politics, in general.” Perez claimed Stack’s scheme “measures and evaluates, in terms of financial donations, the loyalty and political patronage shown by individuals and companies for purposes of conferring and providing government benefits and privileges.”
“None of Perez’s allegations have been proven or disproven in court. The settlement agreement resolution expressly states that the $150,000 payment does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing by Union City or any of its officials,” Transparency NJ reported.
At the time the lawsuit was filed, Stack’s then-chief of staff, Mark Albiez told the Observer that the complaint was a “completely false and baseless claim thrown about by a money-hungry attorney.”
“We look forward to disproving all claims in the suit and proving just how ridiculous and ludicrous they are. The claims made in this lawsuit are clearly off-base and an attempt to disparage Brian Stack’s character, all while pursuing monetary gain,” Albiez said.
A similar lawsuit from three Union City police officers alleging that they had to contribute to Stack’s civic association to get a promotion mostly failed in court.
‘It Opened My Eyes to the Machine’
All these years later, Stack runs his political power show without much in the way of accountability, sources say. He’s one of just three remaining New Jersey state lawmakers serving as dual officeholders. They were grandfathered in after lawmakers passed a ban on “double-dipping in 2007. As the New Jersey Monitor reported, the restriction came amid growing concern over “pension benefits and public pay and as federal prosecutors began to unveil corruption indictments against some of those officials.” Time in politics has its privileges.
Navarro, the Republican candidate for the 37th District, said no one runs for anything in northern New Jersey without Stack’s blessing. He said he tried to run for office in 2019. He was told he needed the power broker’s permission. That’s when Navarro left the Democrat Party.
“It opened my eyes to the machine going on,” he said, adding that he has little faith that in a free and fair election in Hudson County.
Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.
