Hoboken 3rd Ward Councilman Mike Russo raised $46,600 in the second quarter of the year, with $221,292.92 cash on hand, his July 15th report filed with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (NJ ELEC) shows.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Ironstate President David Barry contributed $5,200, Fairview Insurance COO Michael Graham gave $2,500, and his brother Ryan Graham, the director of business development for employee benefits at Fairview, wrote a check for $1,000 (Fairview is a city vendor), according to the report.
Local business owner Charles Poggi, who just had a redevelopment project approved by the planning board, donated $500, Weiner Law Group Managing Partner Mark Tabakin, special counsel for the city, chipped in $2,500, as did law firm consultant Paul Weiner.
Russo’s cash on hand is still nearly identical to what he had in the first quarter of 2024 after spending just a hair less, $45,711.43, than he raised between April 1st and June 30th.
As far as expenditures go, the longest serving councilman in the Mile Square City spent $11,500 on Scorpion Consulting, his fundraising company, $6,000 on Springfield-based consultant Activate Media, and $5,684 for website/computer consulting from Civitech.
Russo also shelled out $4,000 for San Francisco-based media consultant Caleb McDermott.
All but assured to run for mayor in the non-partisan November 4th, 2025 contest in Hoboken, Russo remains the top fundraiser in the Mile Square City.
Mayor Ravi Bhalla, who unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez (D-8) in last month’s primary, has $43,948.49 cash on hand, his July 15h ELEC report says, with his fundraising efforts focused on the House.
Both he and Menendez spent in the neighborhood of $3 million, super PACs included.
Other potential candidates include 2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher and 4th Ward Councilman Ruben Ramos, who did not have second quarter reports available on the ELEC website as of this writing, and Councilwoman-at-Large Emily Jabbour.
Jabbour raised $2,000 and spent $5,142.86 in the second quarter, leaving her with $26,746.78 cash on hand, her July 15th ELEC report says.
Who says crime doesn’t pay? Menendez is down and out but we got Mikie!