Jersey City mayoral hopeful Mussab Ali, a former school board president, raised $213,329.97 in the second quarter of 2024, with $203,435.41 cash on hand, his July 15th New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (NJ ELEC) report shows.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
He received donations from individuals throughout New Jersey, along from other states including Virginia, New York, Connecticut, and Texas with contributions ranging from $250 to $5,200 from outside the typical Hudson County political class, according to the report.
Devin Monserrate, the digital inclusion coordinator at the Jersey City Housing Authority, gave $2,000, while Amardeep Bhalla, Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla’s brother, gave $250. He has also loaned himself $16,500.92
“Our campaign’s strong fundraising efforts highlight the broad and diverse support we have from voters across Jersey City,” Ali, a Harvard graduate, said in a statement.
“This campaign is driven by individuals who believe in the need for fresh, diverse leadership representing all our residents’ voices and concerns.”
His campaign also said the candidate’s “remarkable fundraising success marks the largest amount a Gen Z candidate has raised in a single quarter in New Jersey’s history,” indicating that Ali is not just running as a spoiler in the non-partisan November 4th contest.
The 27-year-old also has an extremely low burn rate this far, with his largest expense being $2,369.43 to ActBlue for compliance, legal, and accounting.
Currently running in a field of four mayoral candidates, Ali declared his candidacy in April and indicated he raised $100,000 in his first 48 hours. His campaign did not reply to a question about how much cash on hand he currently has available.
His recent fundraising haul would put him in the same bracket as his mentor and current opponent Bill O’Dea, the longest serving Hudson County commissioner (D-2) who made his bid for mayor official back in November.
His campaign said earlier this month that he raised about $200,000 in Q2 and has approximately $800,000 cash on hand.
Council President Joyce Watterman, who formally announced last month when she unveiled four of her running mates, reporting raising $14,800 between April 1st and June 30th, with $101,989.43 cash on hand, her two separate July 15th ELEC reports say.
Former Mack Cali CEO Mike DeMarco, the head of the Exchange Place Alliance board Watterman also sits on, gave $5,000, while Linden Mayor Derek Armstead’s campaign account gave $250.
The fourth and final declared candidate in the race, former Gov. Jim McGreevey, the leading fundraiser in the mayoral race thus far, did not have a Q2 report available on the ELEC website as of Tuesday morning.
