Hoboken 6th Ward council candidate Lauren Myers raised approximately $15,000 at her kickoff on Thursday, her campaign said.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“I am excited about the outpouring of support for my candidacy. It will help provide me with the resources required to get out my message out,” Myers said in a statement.
“I am passionate about bringing new energy and ideas to the Council, working to foster homegrown small businesses, and preserve the unique small city feel that makes Hoboken such an exceptional place to live.”
Myers, a complex commercial litigation attorney and a member of the Hoboken Democratic Committee, hosted the event at 10th and Willow Bar and Grill.
Mayor Ravi Bhalla and Council President Emily Jabbour, who have endorsed her in the November 7th non-partisan race where she looks to unseat Councilwoman Jen Giattino, were among the 40 or so in attendance, according to her campaign.
The race will be a three-way dance, with Play! Hoboken owner Ian Rintel also seeking office this time around after an unsuccessful campaign for an at-large seat in 2021.
1st Ward council candidate Rafi Cordova, who also has Bhalla’s endorsement, reporting raising $15,000 at his kickoff as well, his campaign said in July.
For the time being, neither is required to file a campaign finance report with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (NJ ELEC), therefore the names of everyone who donated to their respective campaigns aren’t available yet.
Myers was the last declared Mile Square City council candidate overall, not announcing her candidacy on the day of the August 24th filing deadline and filed her D-1 form declaring her candidacy on August 28th.
Both Giattino and Rintel challenged some of Myers’ petitions of nomination with the city clerk’s office, but they ended up being unsuccessful.
She seems like an intelligent person so she has to understand that the $15,000 had almost nothing to do withe her and everything to do with Bhalla’s ability to raise political cash.
She is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Bhalla Inc.
Myers “support” = Ravi $$$ rubber stamp control.
The $15,000 per Ravi rubber stamp smells fishy, very fishy. Stop them Hoboken!
Even if true this won’t go very far and since VJ has a standard practice of wildly inflating reported fundraiser contributions the real number is probably at most 10k. Ravi ought to be able to shake down City vendors for at least 50k per candidate with the new higher contribution limits.
$15K in Bhalla bucks seems to be the going rate for buying his council candidates.
It should be noted that Hoboken City employee and Bhalla staffer VJ also gets more than a few grand to help run each of Bhalla’s proxy campaigns. Your tax dollars at work ????