Louis Manzo (born February 28, 1955, in Jersey City, New Jersey) is an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2004 to 2008, where he represented the 31st legislative district, and who ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey.
Manzo received a B.A. from Jersey City State College in health education. He began his career as a sanitarian with the Jersey City Health Division in 1977.
Manzo unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Jersey City five times in the following elections.
Year | Opponent |
---|---|
1992 | Bret Schundler (R) |
1993 | Bret Schundler (R) |
2001 | Glenn D. Cunningham (D) |
2004 | Jerramiah T. Healy (D) |
2009 | Jerramiah T. Healy (D) |
In June 2007, he overwhelmingly[ clarification needed ] lost a bid in the Democratic primary for a seat in the State Senate to Sandra Bolden Cunningham.
In December 2008, Manzo announced that he would wage an uphill campaign for mayor of Jersey City against incumbent Mayor Jerramiah Healy. Though finishing in second place in a field of five candidates, Manzo was unable to force a runoff against Healy. Manzo won 26% of the vote, compared to 53% for Healy. [1]
Manzo was one of 44 people arrested on July 23, 2009, as part of Operation Bid Rig, a joint operation of the FBI, IRS, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey into corruption and money laundering. [2] Manzo was charged with taking $27,500 in corrupt cash payments for use in his failed Jersey City mayoral campaign. [3] [4] Manzo was charged with two counts of extortion under the federal Hobbs Act, but in May 2010, U.S. District Court Judge Jose L. Linares dismissed the charges, ruling that the act only applies to elected officials. Manzo then faced two counts of violating the Travel Act, charging him with crossing state lines to commit a crime, and two counts of failing to report to authorities that others were collecting bribes. [5] On February 17, 2012, all remaining charges against Manzo were dismissed by Linares. [6]
Manzo filed suit to have his legal costs reimbursed by the government, but a court denied his claim. [7]
The book Ruthless Ambition: The Rise and Fall of Chris Christie authored by Manzo was released in April 2014. [8] [9] [10] [11]
Bret D. Schundler is an American Republican politician from New Jersey. Schundler was the mayor of Jersey City from 1992 until 2001. Schundler was the city's first Republican mayor since 1917. He ran for Governor of New Jersey in 2001 and 2005.
Jerramiah T. Healy is a New Jersey-based politician who served as the 48th mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey serving from 2004 to 2013. He ran for the unexpired term of the late Glenn D. Cunningham and was elected in November 2004. In the special election, he defeated Acting Mayor L. Harvey Smith. He was subsequently elected to a full term by a record landslide.
Joseph V. Doria Jr. is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs in the cabinet of Governor Jon Corzine from 2007 until his resignation in July 2009. He is a former Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly, State Senator for the 31st Legislative District, and a former Mayor of Bayonne, New Jersey, a position he held from July 1998 to October 2007.
Mims Hackett is an American Democratic Party politician, who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2002 to 2007, where he represented the 27th Legislative District, which covers the western portion of Essex County.
Anthony Chiappone is an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he represented the 31st Legislative District from 2004 to 2006 and again from 2008 until his resignation in 2010.
Joseph Vas is an American Democratic Party politician, who has served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2004 to 2010, where he represented the 19th Legislative District. He did not seek re-election to the assembly in 2009. He also served as Mayor of Perth Amboy, New Jersey from 1990 to 2008. He was defeated for re-election to a 5th full term by local bank vice president Wilda Diaz in 2008 by a 58% to 42% margin. He was elected Perth Amboy Democratic Chairman in 2008, succeeding his longtime campaign chairman Ray Geneske. Vas resigned as the party chairman in 2009. He was convicted of state corruption charges in 2010 and federal corruption charges in 2011.
L. Harvey Smith is an American Democratic Party politician who has served in the New Jersey General Assembly from January 8, 2008 to January 10, 2010, where he represented the 31st legislative district. He is the former Acting Mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey and previously served in the New Jersey Senate. He did not seek re-election in 2009.
Sandra Bolden Cunningham is an American Democratic Party politician, who has been serving in the New Jersey State Senate since 2007, where she represents the 31st Legislative District. She was sworn into office on November 8, 2007. She is the widow of former Jersey City Mayor Glenn Cunningham, who died in 2004.
Daniel Van Pelt is an American Republican politician, who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from January 8, 2008, until July 31, 2009, when he resigned after being arrested in connection with Operation Bid Rig on federal corruption charges for allegedly accepting a $10,000 bribe. He was later convicted and sentenced to 41 months in prison. In the Assembly, he represented the 9th legislative district.
The 2009 New Jersey gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 2009. Incumbent Democratic Governor Jon Corzine ran for a second term against Republican Chris Christie, Independent Christopher Daggett and nine others, in addition to several write-in candidates. Christie won the election, with about 48.5 percent of the vote, to 44.9 percent for Corzine and 5.8 percent for Daggett. Christie won the largest margin for a non-incumbent Republican since 1969. Christie assumed office on January 19, 2010.
The following offices were up for election in the United States State of New Jersey in the general election on November 3, 2009:
Ralph J. Marra Jr. is an American lawyer who served as the Acting United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. He held this position from the resignation of Chris Christie in December 2008 until the appointment of Paul J. Fishman in October 2009. In January 2010, after Christie became Governor of New Jersey, Marra was appointed to a top legal position in the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.
Peter J. Cammarano III is an American disbarred attorney, former Democratic politician and a convicted felon. He was the 37th Mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey, serving from July 1 until July 31, 2009. Cammarano was arrested by the FBI on corruption charges on July 23, 2009 as part of an international criminal investigation known as Operation Bid Rig; he resigned from office eight days later. He pleaded guilty to extortion in April 2010 and was later sentenced to 24 months in federal prison.
Operation Bid Rig was a long-term investigation into political corruption in New Jersey conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, and the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 2002 to 2014.
Dennis P. Elwell served as Mayor of Secaucus, New Jersey from 2000 until July 28, 2009, when he resigned after allegations of political corruption.
Anthony R. Suarez is a New Jersey attorney and has served as Mayor of Ridgefield, New Jersey since 2004.
Dawn Zimmer is an American politician who served as the 38th mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey. As president of the Hoboken City Council, she became acting mayor after incumbent Peter Cammarano's resignation on July 31, 2009 following his arrest on corruption charges. Zimmer is the first female mayor of Hoboken. She was first elected mayor in a special election for the balance of Cammarano's term on November 6, 2009 and was re-elected mayor for another four-year term in November 2013. In 2012, 2013 and 2014, she was ranked #3, #4 and #5, respectively, on The Hudson Reporter's list of the 50 most influential people in Hudson County.
DiAnne C. Gove is an American Republican Party politician who serves in the New Jersey General Assembly representing the 9th Legislative District. She was sworn in on December 7, 2009, to fill the vacant seat left by the resignation of fellow Republican Daniel Van Pelt after his arrest on corruption charges. She has been the Minority Policy Co-Chair in the General Assembly since 2014.
Lori Serrano is the former Commissioner and Chairwoman of the Jersey City Housing Authority, the state's second largest public housing authority. She was an unsuccessful City Council candidate on mayoral candidate Louis Manzo's ticket in the 2009 Jersey City municipal election.
The 2013 New Jersey gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2013, to elect the governor of New Jersey. Incumbent Republican Governor Chris Christie ran for reelection to a second term in office. He faced Democratic nominee Barbara Buono and six others in the general election. Christie was reelected with over 60 percent of the vote and carried 19 of the state's 21 counties, with Buono only winning heavily Democratic Hudson and Essex. Christie became the first Republican gubernatorial candidate to win more than 50 percent of the vote since Thomas Kean's landslide victory in 1985. He won 21% of Black voters and 51% of Latinos. As of 2022, this was the last time a Republican won the governorship of New Jersey or won any statewide election. This is also the last time the counties of Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Middlesex, Mercer, Passaic, and Union voted for the Republican candidate in a statewide election, as well as the last time that Somerset did so in a gubernatorial election.