Meeting Hudson’s Republican Club

By Joshua Sotomayor-Einstein | The Save Jersey Blog

Save Jerseyans, Hudson County may be bluer than Bergen but there remains a bastion of solid red conservative and libertarian grassroots activism in the form of the Hudson County Republican Club (hudsonrepublicans.com, HCRC).

Founded in 2011 separate and apart from the official county committee “by a coalition of Hudson County conservative and libertarians tired of the political status quo,” its stated goal is to “support serious candidates, spread small government ideas, and fight the bloat, excess, and corruption that is the Hudson County political world.”

I recently had pleasure of talking about the organization with some of the HCRC leadership and involved members.

Roberto Cruz, HCRC chairman and published financial author, told Save Jersey how “being from Hudson, the GOP perspective has historically been dominated by the Democrats, we founded the HCRC to show people they are not alone and that we can make a difference.” Perry Lin, also an original HCRC founding board member, said “we organized the HCRC to show Hudson County that we have other options than raising taxes and a higher and higher cost of living.”

Maureen Sullivan, a former Hoboken School Board Trustee who recently spoke at an HCRC dinner, said that she first heard of the HCRC through its municipal affiliate the Hoboken Republican Club. “In 09 the Hoboken Republican Club asked if the ticket I was running with and I were for school choice, I said yes,” (though the rest of her ticket said no) Sullivan was endorsed by the Hoboken Republican Club. During her term from 2009-2013, Sullivan was known as the taxpayer advocate on board and helped defeat many tax raising costly programs. Sullivan added that she was guided by a simple rule when it came to out of control school board spending “when you get into a hole, stop digging.” Her interest in running originated at a school board meeting in 2005 at which “they approved the school contract which included health care 100% free, gold plated” with no employee contributions.

When asked about the difficulties of growing a Republican organization in an urban county, Lin reflected that “whether in Hoboken with yuppies, JC with hipsters, or any of groups that make the diverse community that is Hudson there is a particular language that Republicans need to use make our case accessible.” Chairman Cruz, addressing two constituencies that vote overwhelmingly Democrat, said “Hispanics and African-Americans in Hudson are generally religious and proud people who prefer to work than take a handout. They are conservative by nature but the Democrats have been very successful in turning conservative into a negative label.”

Spreading the HCRC message and building a larger urban Republican community in Hudson remains a priority. Both Chairman Cruz and Lin said the HCRC was actively engaged in outreach programming including speakers, parties, charity events and dinners. “People can be involved in the local, municipal, and county level each in their own way,” Chairman Cruz added.

Republican office seekers face challenges in Hudson at the community level; Sullivan said “you will be called racist by people you know” but “you can run and you can win.”

After talking to its members and attending several of their events, Save Jerseyans, I can tell you that the HCRC is dedicated to spreading conservative and small government ideas. Its leadership and diverse active member base is well aware that Republicans are outnumbered 5-to-1 and they are committed to exposing the public to the common sense conservative messages of lowering taxes and increasing quality of life through innovation and outreach.

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