ELEC: Team Bhalla combines for $149k cash on hand, nearly half came from each other

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Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla and his council slate combined for $148,907.25 cash on hand according to their campaign finance reports, though nearly half, $68,500, came from each other’s individual campaign accounts.

By John Heinis/Hudson County View

Bhalla, who is running unopposed, raised just $7,800 between October 4th and October 22nd and spent $36,447.97, according to his 11-day pre-election report filed with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission on October 22n.

Given strong fundraising efforts earlier in the year, he still has $128,731.19 COH, raising $427,625 this election cycle and spending $307,856.

On October 16th, Bhalla paid himself back a $16,001 loan, gave $15,000 to the Team Bhalla council account on October 2nd, as well as writing a check for $2,000 to the Hudson County Democratic Organization on October 13th.

Councilwoman-at-Large Emily Jabbour has $2,453.40 cash on hand in her personal account after raising $11,700 and spending $26,858.06 during the final reporting period, her October 22nd filing says.

5th Ward Councilman Phil Cohen gave $700 on October 4th and $1,000 to date, while Pat Light, the owner of popular Mile Square City bars Green Rock and McSwiggans, gave a maximum individual donation of $2,600 on October 16th.

Livingston-based law firm Antonelli Kantor PC, who serves as as the city’s labor and employment special counsel, also chipped in $300 on October 19th and have donated an aggregate of $600.

She also contributed a total of $26,000 to the Team Bhalla council account in three separate installments of $10,000, $7,000, and $9,000.

Councilman-at-Large Jim Doyle raised $9,250 and spent $5,350, leaving him with $5,900 COH, based on his 11-day pre-election report. Light also gave him $2,600.

Doyle donated a total of $5,000 to Team Bhalla in two installments of $1,000 and one additional $3,000 payment.

Their running mate Joe Quintero has $2,224.10 COH after raising $16,330 and spending $24,031.14, his October 22nd filing shows.

Vincent Battista, of boldgenerators.com, and Light each gave $2,600 and the council hopeful chipped in $22,500 to Team Bhalla in four installments of $2,000, $4,500, $5,000, and $11,000.

Cohen also donated $800 to his account on October 8th.

Collectively, the three-person slate raised $96,175 and spent $100,643.99, for a COH of $9,598.56. They have accumulated $121,225 and used $111,626.44 on expenditures this election cycle.

Kantor PC also donated $500 to the Team Bhalla account.

Their largest expense during the two-week reporting window in October was Connecticut-based Mission Control, their business of choice for printing, mailing, lawn signs, palm cards, handouts, flyers, and pictures.

They were paid a total of $64,707.94 in five separate checks for their efforts.

The other full slate, “Independently Together,” has $14,765.85 COH after bringing in $3,448.81 and dishing out $9,249.04, their October 22nd ELEC filing says.

This election cycle, they’ve brought in $25,796.08 and used $11,030.23 on expenditures.

Adam Mikos, the founder of ADM Strategic Consulting, which has an office in Iowa, was paid $5,128.12 for political consulting.

Paul Presinzano, one of the IT slate members, raised $25,500 in the final reporting period and spent just $337.72, with $29,503.43 COH, his October 22nd report says. However, almost all of that came from a $25,000 loan to himself on October 14th.

In his individual account, he’s accumulated a total of $40,301 and only doled out $10,797.57 on expenses.

One of four independent candidate, Ian Rintel, the owner of Play! Hoboken, most recently reported raising $100 and spent $1,820.74, his October 25th ELEC filing says.

He has $18,104.46 COH, though overall is $6,953.57 in the red since he loaned himself $25,000 on September 18th.

Cindy Wiegand, another candidate who is running on her own, had a robust individual fundraising effort down the home stretch, good for $11,514, according to her October 22nd filing. She has $3,879.03 COH.

Her donations were almost all $1,000 or more and she has given an aggregate $1,010 to herself. She also paid $5,420.64 to do a joint mailer with Rintel on October 19th.

Manny Solar Rivera filed an A-1 report with ELEC on September 27th, indicating that he would not spend more than $5,800 in this election cycle.

The final candidate in the council race, Pat Waiters, who is also running for school board, has not filed any reports with ELEC, according to their online database.

The non-partisan Hoboken municipal elections are tomorrow and the polls will be open from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m.


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2 COMMENTS

  1. Most of the money is for Ravi’s campaign next year: Bhalla for Congress.
    Because Congress could really use more corruption and terror flier. Imagine how admired he would be there? They would be so impressed with it.

  2. That’s a lot of loot. But it’s Ravi’s loot. Special interest big development loves Ravi. He really tries to pay them off but an independent City Council won’t let him sell Hoboken out. If only Ravi had stronger foundations everywhere. Imagine.

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