Jackson Township council race set between Al Couceiro and Chris Pollak
Jackson Township, NJ – The upcoming council race will feature Al Couceiro facing off against Chris Pollak in a contest drawing attention from both longtime residents and political insiders.
Couceiro, a lifelong Jackson resident, is reportedly closely aligned with former councilman Marty Flemming, who lost to Mayor Michael Reina in 2022. He serves as chief of the Jackson Volunteer First Aid squad, is a lifelong volunteer firefighter, and currently holds an elected position as Jackson fire commissioner.
Pollak, by contrast, has a very different background. A New York City native, he spent 17 years roaming the streets of the city as his alter-ego “The Dark Guardian,” a self-styled superhero vigilante and cosplayer, according to a recent YouTube interview. He has ties to Mayor Reina, whose team helped gather the necessary signatures for his campaign.
Pollak has drawn controversy in recent months, including remarks in which he said he wanted to fight the pope, as well as a heated exchange at a recent Jackson council meeting, where he shouted at members of the public and allegedly threatened several council members and their families.
The contrast between the two campaigns has been stark in just one week. Couceiro is filling local community group feeds with positive messages to unite the community. Pollak is filling every social media feed with attack ads and videos criticizing anyone he perceives as being in his way to sitting on the township council.
Pollak was banned from Facebook and Instagram again this week. He was banned earlier this year for violating the platform’s terms of service. He then created a second account, which is also in violation of the terms of service.
We reached out to Meta to find out why and were told that they cannot comment on the specifics of the initial ban, but that his account had repeatedly violated community guidelines. They noted that once a person is banned from the platform, the creation of a new account is prohibited and also a violation of the community guidelines.
The race took another turn when Ken Bressi, a longtime public figure in Jackson and a U.S. Marine Corps Vietnam combat veteran, decided not to submit petitions to run. Bressi, who was appointed to his seat by Jackson Republican Club president Mordechai Burnstein, was widely expected to draw support from the township’s Orthodox Jewish community.
Citing personal reasons, Bressi told the Republican Club in August that after discussions with his family, he would prefer to serve the community in other capacities rather than remain on council. He declined to endorse either Couceiro or Pollak. The Jackson Republican Club, which had previously endorsed Bressi, also chose not to back either candidate.
This week, advisors to Pollak reportedly worked to set up meetings between their candidate and Orthodox community leaders through intermediaries aligned with Reina.
Couceiro, for his part, is banking on decades of community service and his extensive network in Jackson. He said he is focused on running a positive campaign centered on stopping overdevelopment and protecting the township’s quality of life.
He also has ties to New York City. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack against America, he was deployed as a volunteer firefighter, along with a contingent of other Jackson volunteers to work the rubble pile at Ground Zero.
Pollak has employed what his team describes as a “guerrilla marketing” strategy, laying blame against opponents while working closely with Reina and grassroots organizers. To bolster support within the Orthodox community, his campaign team includes two prominent Jewish figures: Elliott Shem-Tov and Chris Walthier, a former Freehold kosher restaurant owner. Both men are serving as campaign managers for Pollak.
Couceiro has said it is time to “end the status quo” in Jackson and push back against developers and special interests. At last week’s ballot positioning drawing at town hall, Couceiro landed the coveted first column on the ballot.
Who is the Dark Guardian?
According to Real Life Superheroes, an online database that catalogues the city’s vigilante superhero network, Pollak began his alter-ego as the Dark Guardian in 2006 and continued until he moved to Jackson a few years ago. He says he played the role for 17 years.
Dark Guardian originally debuted 2006. After patrolling as a solo hero for a number of years, he became affiliated with Superheroes Anonymous in 2009. This same year, he gained notoriety for his attempts to chase drug dealers out of New York’s Washington Square Park.
. In late 2013 he became a member of the New York Initiative, working as second in command under leader Spectre. This lasted until April of 2016, when a dispute over leadership led to him leaving the team and forming New York Ronin.
In 2018 he relocated from Staten Island to Jackson Township New Jersey. After a long period of involvement with the Real Life Superhero community, in June of 2020 Dark Guardian announced he would no longer be a part of it.
In a video by BuzzFeed, Pollak was shown patrolling the city with his Orthodox Jewish superhero sidekick “Life”, Chaim Lazaros.