While 4th Ward Hoboken Councilman Tim Occhinpinti’s cumulative to date balance from the July 15 filing is $24,448.18, his closing balance is listed as $6,358.81.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
While the vast majority of the 13 candidates seeking a Hoboken Council seat in the November 3 elections haven’t disclosed how much money is in their campaign war chests yet, 4th Ward Councilman Tim Occhipinti currently leads the way with over $24k on hand.
After Hudson County View took a look each candidate’s filings with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) this afternoon, Occhipinti by far leads with way with $24,448.15 in his account, according to an online filing done on July 15.
He was first elected to office in November 2010 and has therefore been eligible to receive charitable donations towards his candidacy from that campaign forward.
Additionally, one of his opponents, Dana Wefer, the current chairwoman of the Hoboken Housing Authority, reports $3,925 in campaign contributions as of July 30.
Ruben Ramos, a former state Assemblyman and City councilman, largely viewed by politicos as the favorite in the race, filed a report on September 8, but has not reported any contributions yet.
This is a common trend thus far in the Mile Square City, as only 1st Ward Councilwoman Theresa Castellano and 6th Ward Councilwoman Jen Giattino have reported campaign contributions of $8,777.50 (as of August 20) and $3,672.94 (as of July 13), respectively.
Everyone else, with the exception of outgoing Assemblyman Carmelo Garcia (D-33) – who is expected to slug it out with Giattino as he looks to take over the Ward 6 Council seat – has filed a report with ELEC indicating that they are seeking office in the upcoming municipal election, but no contributions are listed.
Garcia’s last Assembly filing from April 15 says that he has raised a hefty $71,935 in that account.
Also worth noting is that Wefer, Giattino, Tiffanie Fisher (2nd Ward), Mike DeFusco (1st Ward) and 5th Ward Councilman Peter Cunningham filed as the joint committee “Team Zimmer for Hoboken” on September 22.
Mayor Dawn Zimmer hosted a fundraiser at Arthur’s Steakhouse on Wednesday night for the aforementioned candidates, with the campaign contributions from that event to be included on the next filing.
The Team Zimmer for Hoboken account, which lists City Council President Ravi Bhalla as their treasurer and Committeeman Phil Cohen as the committee chair, also does not list any contributions yet.