A new super PAC is backing Hoboken Councilwoman-at-Large Emily Jabbour’s mayoral run, with a political flyer hitting mailboxes on Saturday, about 72 hours before the polls open on Election Day.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Emily Jabbour: A fighter for Hoboken’s working families. We will have the chance to vote for strong, honest leaders who will fight to make Hoboken safe and affordable for all,” the mailer, paid for by the Stronger Communities Coalition, says.
“Councilwoman Emily Jabbour is a problem solver for our city – protecting pedestrians, expanding youth programs, and defending rent control. She is ready to do even more as our next mayor.”
Filings with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (NJ ELEC) show that the PAC, which has an address in Montclair, has spent $22,875.80 on printing and postage for direct mail from Brooklyn-based Person 2 Person Solutions.
This would indicate that a second mailer is likely to hit today, while the treasurer is listed as Alexandra Caiola.
She was also the treasurer for America’s Promise, a federal PAC that blistered U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez (D-8) with attacks during last year’s spirited primary against Mayor Ravi Bhalla, as HCV first reported. Caiola did not return an email seeking comment.
Bhalla is the Democratic nominee for state Assembly in the 32nd Legislative District, opting to seek a new office instead of running for a third term. He has not endorsed anyone to succeed him, though Jabbour was part of his ticket in 2017 and 2021.
Former 1st Ward Councilman Mike DeFusco, the runner-up in the mayoral race eight years ago when Bhalla was elected, initially questioned if a labor PAC that backed Bhalla in Jabbour in 2017, Stronger Foundations, was involved, but later changed his tune.
” … I’ve since learned that ‘Stronger Communities’ is not connected to that PAC, but instead tied to a Democratic fundraiser who also supported Ravi Bhalla’s Assembly race. I apologize to Stronger Foundations for the misrepresentation,” he wrote on X.
“That said, it’s fair to ask: how can Emily Jabbour promise a ‘new direction’ for Hoboken while working with the same fundraiser used by Bhalla’s campaign?”
2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher, one of Jabbour’s opponents, also questioned the new PACs involvement in the race in an email blast this morning.
“What’s curious about this SuperPAC is that it’s run by Alex Caiola, who also served as treasurer for America’s Promise, the SuperPAC that raised $768,000 to support Ravi Bhalla’s failed run for Congress,” she wrote.
“Caiola also continues to work with Alex Freedman, Bhalla’s former campaign manager, who runs multiple SuperPACs under the same political network. What a coincidence … Whether the next one is another ‘positive’ piece promoting Emily or a hit piece on me or another candidate, it’s all part of the same political operation we’ve seen for years. And we are so close to finally seeing this come to an end.”
In New Jersey, political candidates are not supposed to coordinate with super PACs.
However, the repercussions of doing so seem to be largely non-existent even when candidates have shown clear, direct ties to these independent expenditures (that doesn’t appear to be the case here).
The non-partisan November 4th Mile Square City mayoral race features Fisher, 3rd Ward Councilman Mike Russo, 4th Ward Councilman Ruben Ramos, former U.S. Treasury official Dini Ajmani, and Pat Waiters.