Hoboken 3rd Ward Councilman Mike Russo remains the top fundraiser overall in the city’s mayoral race, with $53,445 raised into his individual account and giving his council slate another $69,000 in the second quarter of 2025, campaign finance reports show.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“We’re energized by the incredible support we’ve received from residents across Hoboken,” Russo said in a statement.
“These numbers reflect the growing momentum behind Team Russo and our commitment to delivering strong, experienced, and effective leadership for our city.”
Russo raised $218,439.83, spent $220,101.61, and has $155,096.63 cash on hand in his individual account, his July 15th report filed with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission shows.
However, a significant amount of that number raised came from his city council account:$164,994.83 to be exact, which brings the total down to $53,545.
John Barry contributed $5,000, as did Village Hoboken cannabis dispensary co-owner Daniel Pettigrew, Olivia Barry donated $5,200, while Alex and Daniel Cocoziello, of Advance Realty Investors, both gave 3,000, the report says.
JLL Senior Vice President Nicholas Dinallo wrote a check for $5,500, Bijou Development Partner and CFO Dave Gaber got involved at $3,000, city contractor Fairview Insurance gave $1,300, and the Hoboken PBA Local 2 Inc. contributed $1,000.
As for expenditures, Springfield-based Activate Media was paid $13,026 for various media efforts, Scorpion Consulting received $12,032 for fundraising and political consulting, and The Social Status, of Scotch Plains, was compensated $12,000 for digital media.
Between his council and mayoral accounts, he has $345,0141.53 cash on hand.
His council slate, where Nicole Magaña, Pete Keeling, and Dean Murray are running at-large and Ryan Cunningham is seeking the 6th Ward seat, did not report any funds raised outside of the $69,000 from Russo’s council account.
They all declared their candidacies at the same time on June 16th, as HCV first reported.
Three colleagues are joining Russo in the non-partisan November 4th contest: 2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher, 4th Ward Councilman Ruben Ramos, and Councilwoman-at-Large Emily Jabbour. Former U.S. Treasury official Dini Ajmani is also in the race.
Ramos reported raising $33,791 for his mayoral run in the second quarter of 2025, with $119,058.32 cash on hand.
Weed and Big Developers are the key backers for Michael Russo. Somewhere, Solomon Dwek is smiling.
You do for me… I do for you.
WOW of course developer and consulting groups, they all want a piece of a handshake deal. Sad.