Third Ward Councilman Michael Russo, whose support for Beth Mason’s campaign failed to help her get elected Tuesday, said he is not yet backing either Peter Cammarano or Dawn Zimmer in the June 9 runoff election. “I haven’t really been giving it any thought right now,” he said Wednesday. He is standing behind Mason’s council candidates, Vinnie Addeo and Raul Morales II, who will likely get into the runoff unless their votes are challenged.
Russo was surprised at the outcome of the election and shocked at the margin of defeat for Mason.
“We all must have had it wrong,” he said referring to camapaign polling statistics and street conversations. “Beth tried to unite this town. Unfortunately, Hoboken didn’t want to be united.”
Voters in Russo’s stronghold, Church Towers, selected council candidates from Mason’s slate, but voted for Cammarano for mayor. In fact, Cammarano took the 3rd Ward overall. In that ward, Mason was a distant third.
“I would tell [voters] point blank, and Beth told them, ‘If you can’t vote for my ticket, don’t vote for me,’ ” he said.
Russo said the outcome didn’t change the thrill of Election Day. “It was an exciting day. I’m a fan of politics. It was slow and quiet, but exciting in the sense that nobody knew what was going to happen,” he said.
He did credit Zimmer for the job she did with such little monetary support, especially compared to Mason. he also complimented her use of e-mail chains and other technological advances like Twitter.
“The traditional knocking-on-doors — that can still work, but you can do a lot of damage online, too,” Russo said. “The reality of this city is that it’s changing and it’s changing rapidly.”
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Russo comments on election, and on future endorsement
