consensus endorsements<\/a> County Register and all nine commissioner seats, which included Bautista.<\/p>\n\u201cWhen you don\u2019t have the support of the two mayors that you represent and it\u2019s mayor\u2019s choice, I wasn\u2019t going to start a war over it. It\u2019s time. They wanted their own choice, I\u2019m assuming \u2026 It wasn\u2019t that I was pushed out. I don\u2019t run from a fight,\u201d Romano said.<\/p>\n
He emphasized that he had made the decision not to run long before Solomon and Jabbour formally joined HCDO Chair Craig Guy, and others, in backing Bautista, who he defeated in 2020 and 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not angry or bitter or nothing. I was contemplating it. Change is always inevitable. They want their people,\u201d the board chair added.<\/p>\n
Romano said he was surprised at the HCDO announcement to endorse Bautista given the history, particularly on Jabbour\u2019s part, but noted that he ultimately respected their choice.<\/p>\n
Regardless, he underscored that he would not offer his support to Bautista as his replacement.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, absolutely not: Not supporting it,\u201d Romano stated.<\/p>\n
While he had spoken about not running to other commissioners and the\u00a0HCDO\u00a0last year, he\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0expecting them to endorse\u00a0Bautista.<\/p>\n
He noted\u00a0Bautista\u2019s\u00a0sentiments against the\u00a0organization\u00a0that he\u00a0has expressed\u00a0in the past\u00a0when running against Romano and in general.<\/p>\n
\u201cI absolutely won\u2019t support it because he was against the HCDO: I was surprised at the pick.\u201d<\/p>\n
Romano made it clear he isn\u2019t going anywhere for the rest of his term, indifferent that is Bautista is most likely set to ascend to the seat without a challenge.<\/p>\n
He said that he will remain active in the Hoboken and Jersey City communities, continuing to engage with his constituents in other meaningful ways.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still here, they know me: I\u2019m there always, one thousand percent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Romano touted his over a decade-and-a-half tenure and numerous accomplishments on the board, including as vice chair and chairman, since he was first elected as a commissioner in 2008.<\/p>\n
According to Romano, who is 70 years old, he is not sure if he will run again for the seat or any other office in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously you always leave doors open. I gave it all as a commissioner and as chair. I gave everything I have in me. So, you know, we\u2019ll see what God brings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Romano said he is looking forward to other ways to serve the community, thanking residents, the board, and other elected officials who have supported him over the years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always been an honor and privilege to serve the residents of not only my district, but all of Hudson County,\u201d Romano concluded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll continue to serve as a commissioner until the last day of my term, and I\u2019ll continue to always serve the people in other ways. Whatever doors God opens, I\u2019ll go in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m grateful to everyone and to all the people that supported me from every different ethnic and religious group. I\u2019m very humbled and grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n
The filing deadline for the June 2nd primary is today at 4 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hudson County Board of Commissioners Chair Anthony \u201cStick\u201d Romano (D-5) is retiring, looking forward to private life and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[70505,70506,17310,70507,70508,13338,9,11,10,70509],"class_list":["post-172934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-2026-hudson-county-commissioner-races","tag-anthony-romano","tag-emily-jabbour","tag-hudson-county-board-of-commissioners","tag-hudson-county-democratic-organization","tag-james-solomon","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-ron-bautista"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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