Will a former state assemblyman replace the late Michael Yun on the Jersey City Council? 

Sean Connors, who represented the state’s 33rd District from 2012 through 2015, is among a handful of potential candidates being considered to fill the Ward D seat left vacant following Yun’s death this month. 

Yun, 65, died of complications related to COVID-19 on April 6 after more than a week in the intensive care unit at Jersey City Medical Center. 

Connors, 51, appears to already have the support of Ward C Council Richard Boggiano, a close friend and ally of Yun.  During Monday’s council caucus, Boggiano said he and Yun had discussed who they would want to replace them if something happened to either of them.  Connors, who ran against Yun in 2013, was Yun’s choice for his replacement, Boggiano said. 

“I spoke to Michael Yun’s son and his family, they agree, and they said that his father wished that too,” Boggiano said. “ I think Sean has been there and is well known throughout Ward D.

“He is very popular and is a good community person,” Boggiano added. “ Thinks the same way I do, and the same way Michael Yun did and many of us think.” 

Connors could not be reached for comment. 

Whoever is tapped for the Ward D seat will have to run for reelection in November.  The winner of the November race will fill out the remainder of Yun’s term, which would expire at the end of 2021. 

The council must select a replacement within 30 days of Yun’s death. 

Yun’s former campaign manager in 2013, Cynthia Hadjiyannis, and Yun’s volunteer coordinator in 2013, Patrick Ambrossi, are also throwing their hats in the ring. 

Hadjiyannis, 51, a local real estate lawyer, said she was heavily involved in getting Yun elected at that time.  She said she supported Yun then because she was looking for someone who was independent and not a full-time politician. 

“It is very unfortunate circumstance, it’s really sad, but it is something I have been interested in all along.  It is one of the reasons I helped him so much in 2013,” Hadjiyannis said of Yun. “ This is going to be very difficult time for the city and people and businesses are going to need their councilman to be a resource.  I think I can be that resource.” 

Ambrossi, 26, a fiscal analyst for the Hudson County Division of Housing and Community Development and board member of the Hudson County Young Democrats, has been involved in the community since he was 9.  He worked hand in hand with Yun for several years to get the city to renovate Leonard Gordon Park, Ambrossi said. 

“After returning to a new normal with COVID-1 9… we are going to see cuts being made at a personnel level,” Ambrossi said. “ As councilman, the one thing I want to make sure is we don’t see those cuts in capital improvement, in park improvement, in how the city deals with street sweeping.  So, I think you need someone who is going to make sure that if cuts need to be made, they are in the correct spots.” 

Jocelyn Patrick, 62, the founder of technological support company Tech4Results, is looking to play the role of Ward D caretaker by filling Yun’s position until voters can decide who takes Yun’s place in November.  She said now is not the time to have a back-and-forth over the spot when people are still mourning. 

While Patrick would not seek election in November, Hadjiyannis said she would run for the spot, while Ambrossi declined to comment on November’s election. 

Meanwhile, Hadjiyannis challenged Boggiano’s claim that Connors would have been Yun’s choice. 

“We had very bitter campaign with Sean in 2013,” she said. “ Sean is kind of the antithesis of everything Michael stood for." 

“That was not Michael.  Michael was a total original," Hadjiyannis added. " They are cut from different cloths.  I don’t see them being similar in any way.” 

Ambrossi said he has a good personal relationship with Connors.  They even had spoken with each other about seeking the Heights seat.  While he thinks Connors is a good guy, he said he finds it hard to believe that Boggiano just happened to have the conversation with Yun. 

Benjamin Yun, the son of the late councilman, said his father was always a proponent of transparency and would expect the council to conduct a complete and thorough search to fill the vacancy. 

“He cared deeply for Jersey City and believed that the most important quality in a person is integrity,” Benjamin said. “ Councilman Boggiano isn’t wrong to suggest that my father always spoke highly of Sean Connors with respect to his service to the Heights community and his belief that he would be an excellent member of the city’s governing body.”