Hudson Reporter Hudson Dems Strife Over ICE Shows Failure of NJ Ballot Design × Ricardo is the Secretary and a founding member of the Progressive Democrats of New Jersey and the Progressive Democrats of Hudson County. Dear Editor: It’s never been more clear that Hudson County’s ruling conservative Democratic establishment is out of touch. It takes a special kind of delusion to take offense when both of your U.S. Senators and local activists are united in strong opposition to your taking blood money from ICE. Yet, County Executive DeGise and Freeholder Chairman Vainieri stick to their guns. So it’s easy to forget that this summer, Hudson County voters received ballots with Senator Cory Booker neatly stacked atop a column of candidates that included Freeholder Vainieri. It wasn’t unfair then to assume they would have similar values. They’re grouped up after all, right? They even have the same official-sounding slogan! The sad reality is these people not only disagree on policy; they barely talk to one another. Besides posing for a photo-op at a big-ticket fundraiser, they barely know each other. Nonetheless, the ballot’s design deceives people into voting “down the line.”