While the carnival atmosphere of the free-spending, hard-charging campaigns that surrounded the May 13 City Council elections has calmed slightly, there is still plenty of behind-the-scenes maneuvering and campaigning going on before the June 10 runoff. Runoff elections will be held in four of the city’s six wards.
It was announced last week that Mayor David Roberts’ Hoboken United organization managed to gather a couple of endorsements that just a couple of weeks ago may have seemed unlikely. Meanwhile, political fundraising for consultants, advertising and functions has climbed into the hundreds of thousands of dollars – a large amount for a mile-square city, but not unprecedented when the balance of the nine-member City Council is at stake.
Endorsements
Despite having had some disparaging words for Roberts’ candidates before the first ballot, the candidates for a political group called Hoboken First officially announced at the end of last week that they would endorse Roberts’ candidates in the run-off.
This might be troubling news for the Hoboken Alliance for Accountable Government, a group of Roberts dissidents who say they want to clean up government. Hoboken Alliance made it into runoffs in the 1st, 2nd, and 6th wards, but each of their candidates – Ron Rosenberg, Elizabeth Mason, Daniel deCavaignac – were more than 10 percentage points behind their opposition on May 13.
In a statement signed by all four Hoboken First Candidates – Dominic Lisa, John Corea, Vincent Addeo and Anthony Mussara – Hoboken First endorsed Roberts’ three candidates, Richard Del Boccio (2nd Ward), Roseanne Andreula (3rd), and Nino Giacchi (6th). They also endorsed independent council incumbent Theresa Castellano in the 1st Ward, where she faces Alliance candidate Ron Rosenberg. Mayor Roberts’ candidate did not make it to the runoff in that ward.
“We wanted to support candidates who would continue to move Hoboken forward,” read a statement released by Hoboken First President Michael Schaffer last week. “We wanted to support candidates who shared some of our hometown values while working to incorporate the ideas of those who have lived in Hoboken for only a relatively short period of time. We wanted to support candidates who are willing to admit they might have made mistakes, but are seeking to adjust their course without recrimination or hostility.”
While throwing support behind a slate helps the Hoboken United team, each ward has a character of its own, and the battles will be fought ward by ward. In the 3rd Ward, Roberts candidate Roseanne Andreula will have to fight former ally and former Mayor Russo, who had one of the highest vote showings in the city on May 13. Even though Russo was handily defeated citywide by Roberts for mayor two years ago, he apparently is able to muster much more support within his home ward.
Also throwing his support to the Roberts ticket last week was former Mayor Steve Cappiello, a well-known community figure who according to inside sources has had an on-again, off-again relationship with Roberts. The high point was when Roberts appointed Cappiello to a unpaid position as deputy mayor last year – but the low point was just a couple months ago when Cappiello, who served as mayor from 1973 to 1985, ran against Roberts’ candidates in the April Board of Education election. Now Cappiello appears to be back on board. Cappiello did not return phone calls before press time.
Who is running?
The 1st Ward proved to be one of the wilder races, with six different candidates running. In the end, there were two survivors.
Incumbent Theresa Castellano led the pack with 38 percent of the vote. Ron Rosenberg of Hoboken Alliance and independent Dominic Lisa were in nearly a dead heat, with both receiving around 24 percent of the vote. Rosenberg squeaked his way into the runoff by only 15 votes.
Without the endorsement of Lisa, it’s going to be an uphill proposition for Rosenberg, especially considering that the runoffs traditionally only bring out that most diehard supporters. This usually favors the incumbent, in this case, Castellano.
In the 2nd Ward, multi-term incumbent in Del Boccio goes head to head with political newcomer Elizabeth Mason. Shortly after the election, several insiders whispered that Corea might support Mason, since Corea was particularly vitriolic in some of his attacks on Del Boccio. But now that Mason did not get Corea’s support, she has a tougher job ahead.
Corea declined to comment last week on the endorsement, saying only that he stands by Schaffer’s statement.
The 3rd Ward runoff could be the most intriguing. Former Mayor Russo, who was a controversial whirlwind of activity during his two terms as mayor, collected 44 percent of the vote compared to Andreula’s 24 percent on the first ballot. It’s likely that Roberts will put his mounting financial resources to use in this race.
The final runoff is in the 6th Ward. In a minor surprise, Hoboken Alliance candidate Daniel deCavaignac, by the slimmest of margins, made it into a runoff with one-term incumbent A. Nino Giacchi in the 6th Ward. Many people thought that Giacchi, who is running in Roberts’ home ward, had a good chance of being a first ballot winner. But Giacchi was only able to pull 49 percent of the vote.
An expensive election
The city’s three spring elections – the April school board race, May City Council election and upcoming June council runoffs – have resulted in high spending by the Roberts forces.
On May 13, approximately 7,600 people went to the polls to vote for City Council candidates in the city’s six wards. In almost every municipal election statewide, the administration in power has been able to raise the most money, and this race was no exception.
Since being elected in May of 2001, Roberts, through three organizations – Hoboken United, the Friends of Mayor David Roberts, and the Hoboken Democratic Party – has raised over $590,000. In the past four months, those three groups, and Hoboken United for Education, another Roberts-supported organization, have spent almost $260,000 combined on the April Board of Education election and May council races.
The bulk of Hoboken United and The Hoboken Democratic Organization’s funds come in donations of over $400, mainly from area professionals such as law firms, architects, engineers, developers, and other area firms. Donations from city contractors and developers have been a source of campaign income for Mayor David Roberts, former Mayor Anthony Russo, and other former mayors. It’s also common in other municipalities and counties.
In the April 27, 2001 campaign fundraising report before the 2001 mayoral election, then-Mayor Russo had a war chest of $534,078, with the Hoboken Democratic Party being by far the biggest contributor. At the time, the head was Michele Russo, the former mayor’s wife. The party contributed more than $132,000.
Now, the head of the party is Roberts.
Clearly, the change in city leadership means a change in the money one is able to raise from contributors and contractors. This time around, Russo has only reported collecting $26,739. While some local businesses and local vendors have contributed, most of campaign money comes in the form of personal loans. The fund for 1st Ward Incumbent Castellano’s campaign is similar, with $21,000 of her $27,008 coming from loans.
The Hoboken Alliance, which has candidates in the 1st, 2nd and 6th ward runoffs, have reported collecting $51,990, most of which was provided by their own candidates out of their own pockets. The Hoboken First slate and its three candidates reported raising a total of $45,200.