David Roberts

This is one of those state the obvious things, like the person who gets the most votes on Election Day will win the election: they key players in the Hoboken mayoral runoff next month are the people who voted for Beth Mason.  Mason voters will decide if Dawn Zimmer or Peter Cammarano becomes the next Mayor. 

In yesterday's voting, Zimmer led Cammarano by 212 votes, 3,614 (36%) to 3,402 (34%).  Mason received 2,330 votes (23%), with the remaining 7% split between three other candidates.

At Large Councilman Peter Cammarano made the June 9th runoff by amassing 3,755 votes to Dawn Zimmer's 3,671. Beth Mason trailed with 2,541 votes.

HOBOKEN – Beth Mason’s Washington Street campaign headquarters was a scene of anguish as supporters desperately tried to figure out what happened Tuesday night to their candidate, the frontrunner in at least two early polls and the designated big money player headed into Election Day.

“We’ll take the next couple of days to assess the situation,” said Jake Stuiver, Mason’s campaign manager, helmsman of what even in the most charitable terms can only be characterized as a colossal meltdown.

Stuiver stood on the sidewalk in darkness amid figures clutching each other in devastation, trying to find or provide some comfort.

The losing candidate wasn’t ready to make an official statement but sources close to her say she feared a deepening divide in her city on learning of the results tonight. Repeatedly castigated by both the Cammarano and Zimmer camps for abandoning her reformer roots to assemble a slate of old school Hobokonites, Mason argued that she didn’t have to agree with her running mates on every issue in order to feel comfortable running with them.

But her efforts to forge her 2nd Ward supporters with the remnants of the Anthony Russo era proved politically hazardous. 

The Hoboken City Council’s mayoral election year vote on the budget broke down 6-2-1 last night, with Councilman Peter Cammarano voting in the affirmative for the $123 million document, Councilwoman Beth Mason voting in the negative, and Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer abstaining.

Following a year in which Hoboken residents’ taxes went up 47%, Cammarano, Mason and Zimmer have all filed to run for mayor to succeed David Roberts.

Councilwoman Beth Mason

HOBOKEN - With just Councilman Peter Cammarano and Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer the only declared mayoral candidates to date and two months until Election Day, Hoboken has the makings of a political battleground.    

A poll taken last month by American Research Surveys for a group of prominent Democratic Party members determined that Councilwoman Beth Mason leads the field in the mayor’s race, followed by Councilman Peter Cammarano and Dawn Zimmer, who statistically tie for second.

Cammarano improves his standing in the poll when emphasizing his opposition to the state takeover of the mile square city's budget, but a majority of voters polled are undecided about who should succeed Mayor David Roberts. 

Of 250 voters polled, Mason received 17% in the “hard support” category, followed by Zimmer with 9% and Cammarano with 8%. 

Hoboken City Hall

HOBOKEN - City Hall sources this afternoon confirmed what Hoboken's political class has known for a very long time, which is that as much as Mayor David Roberts would love to run for a third term, the city's budget crisis and resulting state takeover make it politically infeasible for him to do anything other than tap out at this point.

He won't run again, said sources close to the mayor, who anticipate Roberts releasing an official statement sometime in the coming days.

When asked to consider his one-time political ally's legacy, At-Large Councilman Peter Cammarano said, "It's a mixed bag. For much of his term, he presided over the ramping up of the local economy and a Hoboken renaissance. There was unprecented growth in the local economy. ...Clearly the downside was the growth of the city budget from $52 million to $100 million in seven years."

At-Large Councilman Peter Cammarano

HOBOKEN - In a Denver hotel lobby on the eve of Obama’s big nominating speech, amid the clatter of high heels, elevator music and 11th hour political pell-mell, a young Hudson County elected official sat in an oversized armchair with his head down, intently reading a biography of his hero, Abe Lincoln.

This morning, on the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birthday, At-Large Councilman Peter Cammarano launched his campaign for mayor at the hipster Frozen Monkey cafe, becoming the second person to formally get in the race to succeed incumbent Mayor David Roberts. 

For Cammarano, 31, the critical moment in recent Hoboken history was the budget vote last year. 

The councilman argued that he has an enviable record on that score, particularly compared to Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer - who's already in the mayor's race - and Councilwoman Beth Mason - set to enter as early as next week - both of whom voted in favor of a state monitor assuming control of a battered Hoboken.

Zimmer and Mason and a majority of the council prevailed, the state came in, and Hoboken lost, said Cammarano.  

"Last year, Hoboken taxpayers were hit with a huge tax increase that was at least $8 million more than necessary due to the failure of the city council to adopt a budget, preventing the city from sending out tax bills," the candidate told reporters. "This happened because a majority of city council members, including my opponents, refused to vote for a 7% tax increase. Instead, they voted for a state takeover that resulted in a 47% increase and great hardship for our homeowners at the worst possible time."

Councilman Peter Cammarano

HOBOKEN - At-Large Councilman Peter Cammarano will formally launch his campaign for mayor tomorrow, Thursday, at the Frozen Monkey, 526 Washington Street.

An attorney with Genova, Burns and Vernoia, Cammarano enters the fray as Hoboken works with a state monitor to repair a budget crisis. An early opponent of allowing the state to fix a budget the councilman argued the mayor and city council should address locally, Cammarano is the second formally declared candidate for mayor behind 4th Ward Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer.

Second Ward Councilwoman Beth Mason is also expected to enter the race. 

Councilman Peter Cammarano

HOBOKEN – Sources close to At-Large Councilman Peter Cammarano say the attorney plans to formally enter the race for mayor sometime next week.  

Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer is already in the contest, and sources say Councilwoman Beth Mason will roll out her campaign shortly with the endorsement of Union City Mayor/Sen. Brian P. Stack. 

Stack wouldn’t comment this week when PolitickerNJ.com asked him who he’s supporting for mayor in Hoboken. He simply said he’ll have an answer probably in the next couple of weeks.

HOBOKEN - Perry Belfiore will sit out the municipal races next year in Hoboken, where a state monitor has taken over the city's embattled financial situation. He won’t run for mayor and he won’t run for any of the three at-large seats. 

“What are you kidding me? I borrowed $9,000 for my last campaign, and had to get out a second mortgage on our second home,” he told PolitickerNJ.com. “Every time I mention politics, my wife reminds me how much my hobby costs us. $9,000. So that’s where it’s at. I will be roasting, toasting and hosting but I will not be embroiled.” 

Befiore ran against Peter Cunningham in the fifth ward last year. Cunningham beat him by 104 votes in a runoff election.

Former Hoboke Councilwoman Carol Marsh with her 2007 running mate, West New York Mayor Sal Vega

HOBOKEN - As elected officials here in the face of public discontent try to make their various arguments for why the state has assumed control of the municipal budget, at least one former elected official is watching from the perimeter.

Talk to locals about the mayor's race next year and most of them factor former Councilwoman and mayoral candidate Carol Marsh's name into a mix that includes Councilman Peter Cammarano, Councilwoman Beth Mason, Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer, Councilman Michael Russo and Mayor David Roberts.

In a phone conversation today with PolitickerNJ.com, Marsh said she was unlikely to run for mayor in 2009, and in one scenario would absolutely rule out the possibility.

"I'm 100 percent in support of Dawn if she runs," said Marsh, who ran unsuccessfully for the Assembly last year in the 33rd District on a ticket with West New York Mayor Sal Vega and Nicole Garcia of Union City.