Jersey City Ward E Councilman James Solomon raised $397,774.34 for his mayoral bid, with $1,228,239.81 cash on hand after the second quarter, campaign finance reports show.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“1,400 unique Jersey City donors tell the whole story – Jersey City is hungry for change, and people know only James Solomon can deliver it,” Stuart Thomas, his campaign manager, said in a statement.
“We have all the momentum in the race because there’s only one candidate who will tackle the affordability crisis, fight corruption, and take on greedy landlords, and that’s James Solomon.”
The downtown councilman raised $200,739.58 into his individual account between April 1st and June 30th, spending $102,663.97, with $711,968.32 cash on hand, his January 15th report filed with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (NJ ELEC) says.
The 32BJ SEIU’s political arm donated $15,500, which isn’t terribly surprising since they’ve endorsed both Solomon and Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea (D-2) for mayor.
Outgoing Assemblyman John Allen (D-32) contributed $6,000, he did not seek re-election and Solomon endorsed June 10th primary winners Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla and Katie Brennan.
Hoboken bar Texas Arizona, owned by Pat Light – a business partner of Allen – gave $5,000, Assemblywoman Alixon Collazos-Gill (D-27) wrote a check for $2,500, as did the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers PAC, and the Jersey City Fire Officers Association got involved at $2,000.
Ziggy Rozalski gave $5,500, with his wife Diane chipping in an additional $2,200, Kapitus CFO Anthony Rose contributed $4,250, former Bridgewater Township Mayor Matt Moench and his wife Stephanie donated $1,200 each, and ex-Bayonne Council President Sharon Ashe-Nadrowski contributed $500.
Additionally, former East Orange Mayor Lester Taylor donated $2,500.
As far as expenditures go, Washington, D.C.-based Acuity Politics LLC was paid $3,033.60 for compliance (the $33.60 was for postage), with the majority of his payments being made on small fees for online donor services like ActBlue and Stripe.
The Team Solomon account raised $197,034.76, spent just $8,523.82, and has $516,271.49 cash on hand, their January 15th ELEC report shows.
Retired professor George Albers-Schonberg gave $30,000, Hammonton-based engineering firm Adams Rehmann & Heggan Associates Inc. donated $10,000, and Ward E council candidate gave $4,550 from her individual account.
Four of Solomon’s family members, including his brother and wife, contributed $44,000 each, former Merck & Co. Chair Roy Vagelos contributed $22,500, and Florio Kenny Reval, LLP senior partner Ed Florio donated $10,000, as did RD Parisi Associates, the city’s insurance broker.
Their expenses were almost exclusively Stripe, ActBlue, and office supplies.
While Solomon is behind former Gov. Jim McGreevey in fundraising, who raised $915,179.33 in Q2, his team does not appear particularly concerned about that.
” … Jim McGreevey is taking money from MAGA donors and billionaire developers while also burning through it at an extraordinary rate,” Thomas added.
“With Jersey City facing a budget and fiscal crisis, McGreevey’s handling of his campaign’s money shows he’s not ready to lead Jersey City. Jersey City powers James’ campaign, and it’s why we are going to win this race and change Jersey City.”
The non-partisan November 4th mayoral race also includes Council President Joyce Watterman, former Board of Education President Mussab Ali, and Police Officer Christina Freeman.
