In a letter to the editor, Peter Jabbour, the husband of Hoboken Councilwoman at-Large Emily Jabbour, details why he feels 3rd Ward Councilman Mike Russo is not fit to serve as mayor.
Dear Councilman Russo,
I am writing this open letter to you with respect to your comments about me in the Hoboken mayoral debate on November 25th.
As you’ll recall, to distract from questions regarding your close alignment with Trump Republicans, you made the completely false comment to Emily “Let’s talk about a few facts. Your biggest donor is a MAGA supporter. $150,000 from your own husband.”
Putting aside for a moment the classless attempt to bring Emily’s family into this debate, it’s ironic (but consistent) that you began your statement claiming to assert facts and then followed it with lies.
I’m not involved in politics, and I’ve not used my voice in this election. I have been a supportive partner to my wife of 17 years. However, since you’ve now opened the door by making assertions about me, I’m compelled to respond.
Even your casual relationship with the truth would not give you any basis to assert you know me at all.
First, I’m actually a registered Democrat and have been for years.
Second, although I consider myself my wife’s biggest “supporter”, it’s odd that you would try to label me as “a donor” or recklessly conclude that I am responsible for Emily’s largely self-funded campaign, suggesting that if I had done so I would be equivalent to the corporate landlords who gave you hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The fact is that Emily has self-funded her campaign with her own money that she has generated from her own career by making responsible financial decisions throughout her life.
Emily and I talked about her decision to run for mayor and realized it would come with a certain amount of public scrutiny and political attacks.
Despite this, our family knew that Emily would make an amazing leader for our city and we support her entirely. Emily is tougher and has a thicker skin than most people realize. She has always overcome the type of misogyny revealed in the way you tried to debate her.
Since you decided to bring me into this public debate, then I will not waste the opportunity to reply to you with “a few facts.”
The fact remains that you are not fit to serve Hoboken as Mayor. Your recent personal and professional bankruptcy filing reveals you are incapable of making responsible financial decisions.
No amount of campaign money or campaign slogans claiming to be “relentlessly positive” can cover your corrupt and lying character. At the debate, it seemed as if you thought that if you talked louder people would believe you.
Your ability to gaslight rivals President Trump’s. You have spent millions of campaign dollars trying to reinvent your image, hoping that ill-informed voters would fall for your wolf-in-sheep’s clothing routine.
Your brand of politics is cronyism and your most ardent supporters are awaiting their city jobs and city contracts.
Emily is the real deal and a serious leader with the qualities necessary to move the City of Hoboken forward. I am so proud of my wife and witness each day the earnest and deep compassion she has for all residents of Hoboken.
She has the integrity, skill, work ethic, vision, and character to deliver a better, safer and more resilient Hoboken.
I am looking forward to December 2nd when the residents of Hoboken will decisively and resoundingly voice their support for Emily for mayor.
Sincerely,
Peter Jabbour
(Proud Husband of Emily Jabbour)
Hey Peter, why don’t you talk about how you called Jim Doyle at 3 AM to accuse him of being with your wife? You have the traits of a paranoid schizophrenic blended with a psychopath.
Unbelievable. Mike Russo assumer that his female opponent’s self-financing was her husband’s money! WRONG.
Working women have savings and investments, just like men! How about that?
Pretty misogynistic thinking, Mike. Welcome to 2025. Women work, women save, women invest, women even run for mayor! Shocking, ain’t it?
Unlike private citizen Peter Jabbour, falsely smeared as “MAGA”,’ Mike Russo actually brought his parents, both Hoboken public figures, dead center into his mayoral campaign. See for yourself on: https://russoforhoboken.com/about
So if Mike Russo is campaigning on his parents’ legacy, it is fair comment for his opponent’s campaign to challenge that legacy. So why is Mike Russo boo-hooing about that? He brought it up! What a CRYBABY!
Here’s what Mike’s campaign wrote about his parents:
“His mother, Michele Russo, dedicated her life to the children of Hoboken. She served on the Hoboken Board of Education and later as Chairwoman of the Hoboken Democratic Party, always advocating for the next generation with fierce conviction and a heart rooted in community. His father, Anthony Russo, began as a special education teacher, guiding students with patience and compassion before stepping into the mayor’s office, where he helped shape Hoboken’s transformation into one of the most dynamic and desirable small cities in America.”
That all may be true and commendable, but some details are missing…
Russo’s been palling around with Hoboken MAGA like Pavel Sokolov- you can see photos of them hanging out with big loser Jack Cittiarelli.
It’s also a fact that MAGA Pavel’s been smearing Peter Jabbour as a “MAGA donor” on Reddit and likely elsewhere. Is that who fed those lies to Mike Russo? Maybe, but Russo did zero due diligence to check whether the MAGA gossip was true.
Hoboken MAGA backs Russo 100 percent. Strange bedfellows or birds of a feather?
A quote from the infamous Councilman Michael Russo FBI recorded “Big Sting” with real estate developer luncheon “you do for me, I do for you.”