FEC: Bhalla raises $396k, $247k for Menendez in new filings, incumbent leads COH

Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla raised $396,458.94 between April 1st and May 15th, while U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez (D-8) received donations totaling $247,328.74 during that same time frame, while also leading on cash on hand, their 12-day pre-election reports show.

By John Heinis/Hudson County View

“The differences between my campaign and Rob Menendez’s are night and day,” Bhalla began in a statement.

“My campaign is powered by individual contributions, while his continues to heavily rely on corporate PACs, lobbyists, and $20,000 from his father, Senator Bob Menendez, he has yet to refund. Residents of the district deserve a representative who isn’t beholden to special interest groups and party bosses.”

The Mile Square City mayor has amassed $2,020,020.63 to date, spent a total of $1,637,260.09, and has $384,534.77 cash on hand, his May 23rd 12-day pre-election report filed with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) says.

As has been the case previously, Bhalla has received the bulk of his contributions from fellow members of the Sikh community, from states such as Maryland, Georgia, California, Virginia, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

A few notable donors include Alamo Insurance President and Founder Luis Alamo, Fairview Insurance COO Michael Graham, and William J. Guarini President William Oriani gave $3,300 a piece, with Oriani also having two family members giving an additional $3,300 each.

All three companies have had contracts with the City of Hoboken in recent years.

Additionally, former 6th Ward Council candidate Lauren Myers and John Reichman, the chair of BlueWaveNJ’s Environmental Committee and also member of the Steering Committee of EmpowerNJ, both gave $500.

Bhalla has spent generously on Washington, D.C.-based Break Something, Inc., spending a whopping $461,034.20 on email fundraising. Similarly, he shelled out $285,715.66 on Connecticut-based Mission Control for direct mail.

Additionally, Great Society Strategies, of Guttenberg, spent $44,945.53 on strategy consulting, $33,466.32 for political consulting from AFPCF, LLC, and another $13,066.17 on Enigma Political Consulting LLC.

Menendez campaign manager Julietta Vogt questioned the validity of the email fundraising expenditures on Friday evening shortly after this story was published.

“In his latest FEC filing, Ravi Bhalla reported spending more than $450,000 on ’email fundraising’ in just the last 45 days, bringing his total ’email fundraising’ spend to over $650,000. That doesn’t seem accurate,” she said.

“Voters deserve to know if the same Ravi Bhalla called ‘unethical’ by the New Jersey Supreme Court and who got a no-bid contract for his law firm weeks after awarding a cannabis license to a political ally is purposefully obscuring what he is actually spending campaign funds on in his FEC reports. Ravi Bhalla needs to be immediately truthful with voters.”

As for the incumbent, he has raised $1,659,190.19 overall, has spent a total of $1,363,188.47, and has $696,354.18 cash on hand, his May 23rd 12-day pre-election FEC report shows.

Liberty House owners Jeanna and Frank Cretella each donated $3,300, as did Daniel Krivit,
the founder of Krivit & Krivit, P.C., and Mike Soliman, a partner at Mercury Public Affairs.

Ricky Mason, the husband of former Hoboken 2nd Ward Councilwoman Beth Mason, also contributed $3,300, the same amount as Panepinto Properties Founder Joe Panepinto.

State Senator Joe Lagana, Assemblywoman Lisa Swain (both D-38), and former state Senator Ray Lesniak all gave $1,000 to the Menendez campaign, along with Jersey City Ward D Councilman Yousef Saleh.

Newark East Ward Councilman Michael Silva and Son Cubano co-owner Alex Duran $1,500 both gave $1,500, while former West New York Mayor Sal Vega and former Assemblyman Nick Chiaravalloti each chipped in $500.

The congressman also received some notable PAC contributions, such as $15,901 from the AIPAC PAC and $6,600 from the American Ukraine PAC.

New Brunswick-based Message & Media, Inc. received a hefty $223,355.79 in direct mail, while Vogt was paid $13,761.72 for her services.

Due to complicated FEC guidelines, out of their total amount of cash on hand, $208,000 of Rob Menendez’s and 58,000 of Bhalla’s funds can’t be spent until the general election.

The third Democratic candidate running in the 8th District congressional race, Kyle Jasey, did not have a 12-day pre-election report available on the FEC website on Friday. The primary is on June 4th.

Editor’s note: This story was updated on Saturday with a statement from Rob Menendez for Congress campaign manager Julietta Vogt.