Ron Bautista

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Ron Bautista

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

June 6, 2023

Education

Associate

Hudson County Community College, 2007

Bachelor's

New Jersey City University, 2010

Graduate

George Washington University, 2021

Personal

Profession

Marketing Executive

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

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Ron Bautista (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Hudson County Board of County Commissioners to represent District 5 in New Jersey. He lost in the Democratic primary on June 6, 2023.

Bautista completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Ron Bautista was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He earned an associate degree from Hudson County Community College in 2007, a bachelor's degree from New Jersey City University in 2010, and graduate degree from George Washington University in 2021. His career experience includes working as a marketing executive.

Bautista has been affiliated with the Progressive Democrats of New Jersey.

Elections

2023

See also: Municipal elections in Hudson County, New Jersey (2023)

General election

General election for Hudson County Board of County Commissioners District 5

Incumbent Anthony Romano defeated Joseph Branco in the general election for Hudson County Board of County Commissioners District 5 on November 7, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Anthony Romano (D)	75.4	6,665
	Submit photo	Joseph Branco (R)	23.9	2,114
		Other/Write-in votes	0.7	63

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,842
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Hudson County Board of County Commissioners District 5

Incumbent Anthony Romano defeated Ron Bautista in the Democratic primary for Hudson County Board of County Commissioners District 5 on June 6, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Anthony Romano	53.2	1,838
		Ron Bautista	46.4	1,603
		Other/Write-in votes	0.4	13

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,454
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Hudson County Board of County Commissioners District 5

Joseph Branco advanced from the Republican primary for Hudson County Board of County Commissioners District 5 on June 6, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Joseph Branco	95.6	329
		Other/Write-in votes	4.4	15

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 344
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Bautista received the following endorsements.

• Food & Water Action
• Our Revolution New Jersey
• Progressive Democrats of New Jersey
• Voters of Tomorrow New Jersey

2020

See also: Municipal elections in Hudson County, New Jersey (2020)

General election

General election for Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders District 5

Incumbent Anthony Romano won election in the general election for Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders District 5 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Anthony Romano (D)	98.9	26,471
		Other/Write-in votes	1.1	283

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 26,754
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders District 5

Incumbent Anthony Romano defeated Ron Bautista in the Democratic primary for Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders District 5 on July 7, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Anthony Romano	61.3	5,833
		Ron Bautista	38.5	3,662
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	24

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 9,519
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2023

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Ron Bautista completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Bautista's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm a 23-year resident and community activist in Hoboken running for County Commissioner. I get my inspiration to run for office from Sofi, my 4-year-old daughter who attends Calabro Elementary, and his 70-year-old mother living in Hoboken – people who are the most vulnerable to unsafe streets, air pollution, and the inequalities perpetuated by our politicians.

Over the years, I’ve taken on local politics as my way to give back to the community. My approach has always been to show people what we can do together before even getting elected to a seat. I believe in doing this work without selling out to political bosses and instead focusing on helping everyday people. That’s why I’m running for County Commissioner, to ensure the needs of everyday people are met, not just those who are politically connected.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I believe that we need policies that help everyday people thrive, afford to raise a family, and age with dignity at the neighborhoods they call home. This means making structural changes for social, racial, economic, and environmental justice.
• We need to improve affordability now, with county-wide free legal representation for tenants and digitized rent control databases so tenants can know what the legal rent is.
• Address homelessness with a housing-first approach, and properly staffing social workers across the county.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I have been a member of the Hoboken Vision Zero Task Force since 2019. Through this work, the task force has achieved zero traffic deaths in the past four years. However, there's still a lot of work to be done in order to prevent serious injuries, and we don't live in a bubble; county roads remain our most deadly roads, especially the roads coming in and out of Hoboken.

In 2019, I joined the Port Authority Bus Terminal Advisory Council. The advisory council has been able to push for more accountability around addressing homelessness and improving wayfinding within the terminal.

Since 2020, I've been a board member of the Hudson River Waterfront Conservancy, a nonprofit organization focused on ensuring a public waterfront walkway throughout Hudson and Bergen County. Recently, the organization took on legal action to allow the public to access the waterfront walkway at Edgewater's Admiral’s Walk.

I also became a board member of the Coalition for Food and Health Equity in 2022. This organization has addressed the meal and nutrition needs of over 1000 families, supported over 20 small businesses, and served over 200,000 healthy meals since 2020.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Progressive Democrats of New Jersey, Food and Water Action, Voters of Tomorrow NJ.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2020

Ron Bautista completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Bautista's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Ron Bautista is a local activist and candidate for County Freeholder for District 5. He has been an advisor on transit solutions for the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation, for institutions like the NY State Department of State on building a stronger relationship between government and the people, and has been an executive director for an education nonprofit. Bautista decided to run for County Freeholder to fight for a Hudson County that works for all ages and abilities. Ron's platform is focused on having a more people-friendly County, with safer streets, more homes for mixed-income people, and 100% renewable energy.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• We live in one of the most expensive communities in the country. Vote for more mixed-income homes, and a right to counsel for tenants facing eviction.
• Our County is responsible for the most dangerous roads for pedestrians. With your vote we can have streets that are safe for all ages and abilities.
• High risk of floodings, heat waves, and breathing problems. Vote for 100% renewable energy, tackling climate change and air pollution.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

The COVID-19 outbreak has shown the cracks in our Hudson County government and I believe our community needs to work for all ages and abilities. Right now, right here, people like my 67-year-old mom are worried if they'll be able to pay the rent next month, friends who lost their jobs are wondering if they're going to get evicted in two months, and I myself as a young professional wonder if I'll be able to afford raising my family our community. With your vote, we can have a Community Land Trust that builds more homes people of all incomes can afford, we can guarantee homes for every homeless person, and we can guarantee legal representation to prevent wrongful evictions. On July 7, vote Ron Bautista for County Freeholder under column A.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

Our County government has the potential to make communities more people-friendly across many cities; build more homes that are affordable for all incomes, make the most dangerous streets safer for pedestrians, stop our jail system from being a for profit institution, and even have a 100% renewable energy transit system that allows people to commute free of traffic.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

The first time I told my wife I was going to run for office, she asked: "why would you want to go into something that has such a bad reputation?" I say that every one of us has the shared responsibility to participate in changing that reputation and lead by example. In politics, there's too much at stake and we cannot just leave it to others; "if you are not at the table, you're most likely on the menu." As honest, progressive people we need to be at the decision-making table, we must have a voice and a vote that represents everyone.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2023 Elections

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Candidate

Hudson County Board of County Commissioners District 5

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