Hudson County voters, with next president and school board races in mind, cast their votes on Election Day

New Jersey is far from a swing state, but the presidential election was the race at the forefront of Hudson County voters’ minds as they visited the polls Tuesday.
Be it 85-year-old Jean Hartzog in Jersey City ready to see the first woman president or Christine Bayly in North Bergen, frustrated by both of the options, Hudson County voters made a point of contributing to the outcome.
Polling sites across the county had a steady stream of voters throughout the morning and afternoon, but those casting ballots rarely had to wait for more than a view minutes for their turn at the booth.
Lisbeth Flores, a North Bergen resident and fourth-grade teacher, brought her family and dog as she voted at midday. Immigration was the key topic on her mind because her mother, who emigrated from Mexico, is still undocumented and unable to get a green card.
“I’m just hoping this time there’s something that will give us hope and that she can get legalized in this country,” Flores said.
This year’s presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump motivated Hoboken’s Chris Baltz, 37, to vote for the first time in his life.
“I voted for Harris because I just don’t like (Trump),” he said. “It has nothing really to do with any political reason. I just don’t think he’s fit to be president.”
Bayonne’s Alberto Marquez had also intended to vote for the first time, but he was stopped short because he was not yet registered. He now has a 5-year-old and said that fatherhood has prompted him to think outside himself and weigh in during elections.
The state of the economy made him want to throw in his support for former President Donald Trump.
“Under his presidency there was money,” Marquez said, “and it wasn’t so much divided.”
Bayly said she typically votes Republican, even though she isn’t confident that it will make much difference in New Jersey. Though she doesn’t particularly like Trump or Harris, part of what motivated her vote was her dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden’s administration.
“I feel like the whole country was lied to with the cognitive ability of the president,” she said. “I just think that (the Biden administration) has been very dishonest. The other guy I think (is) dishonest, too.”
Patricia Green has been working the polls for 19 years in Bayonne and said she sent in her ballot in September. The Jersey City resident started voting when she was 18, and joked that now she’s 17, if you just transpose the digits in her age.
“I’m always a Democrat,” Green, 71, said. “I’m going to be a Democrat ‘til the day I die.”
In Hoboken, voters also weighed in on a referendum to amend the city’s rent control ordinance, and seven municipalities also had Board of Education races, which was the top priority for some voters.
Baltz said he believes his apartment is rent-controlled so decided to vote “No” on the referendum after being told by a friend that doing so would protect rent control.
Nicholas Greco, 42, also said he lives in a rent-controlled apartment and believes the proposed amendment to the rent control ordinance would send local rents skyrocketing.
“We need to keep the prices down so anyone can afford to live where they need to live to work,” Greco said.
The Secaucus Board of Education race was the most important for Ling Dao, 35, who is concerned about a plan that would send his son to a school across town, away from the school they live right next to.
Similarly, Jersey City Heights resident Dane Calcagni was focused on the Board of Education race in his city.
“I’m (voting) for people making sure we’re getting the funding needed in Jersey City that is transparent to how many students we have living here; and how much taxes are being collected and how much is going toward the improvement of the schools and the betterment of education and teacher pay,” he said after voting at School 28.
But overwhelmingly, the presidential race was the theme of the day.
Paul Douglas smiled as he left his polling site, School 41 in Jersey City.
“I just hope Kamala Harris wins,” the 58-year-old said.
NJAM’s Larry Higgs contributed to this report.