Michael Russo

Councilman Michael Russo

Third Ward Councilman Michael Russso greeted Dawn Zimmer warmly and stood with the coterie of councilpeople who formed a half circle behind her as Clerk Jimmy Farina swore her into office as Hoboken's first woman mayor.

Later, Russo wouldn't rule out a challenge to Zimmer, saying simply "no comment," when asked.

"I am supporting Dawn Zimmer to be our acting mayor," said Russo, son of former Mayor Anthony Russso and an emblem of old Hoboken with roots that stretch back into the pre Frank Sinatra era.

"This is about good government right now, we need to move our city into a positive light," added Russo, whose onetime ally and collegaue, Peter Cammarano, submitted his letter of resignation three hours earlier as he continues to fight federal corruption charges.

Russo said he had heard rumors of people who want to run Judge Kimberly Glatt for mayor in the November special election, but wouldn't confirm that they're going anywhere.

Hoboken Council President Dawn Zimmer would become acting mayor in the event that Mayor Peter Cammarano resigns, and it does not appear, at least for the moment, that anyone's big enough to threaten her in the special election. 

Gov. Jon Corzine today said Cammarano will be gone tomorrow, but no one's yet heard that publicly from Cammarano.

If he steps down prior to Sept. 4th, the mile-square-city will hold a special on Nov. 3rd, the same day as the gubernatorial contest between Corzine and Republican challenger Chris Christie.

Most people assume Zimmer will run for mayor.

She was the top vote-getter in the May election, and in the runoff beat Cammarano on the machines only to lose by 161 votes after the Board of Elections factored in absentee ballots. Her supporters will be more revved up than ever with a sense of righteousness. Cammarano was already an opponent. Now, charged with allegedly taking cash bribes, he departs as an outright villain.

HOBOKEN - If Mayor Peter Cammarano resigns amid federal corruption charges and Hoboken holds a special election, sources say Council President Dawn Zimmer - who lost a runoff election to Cammarano in June - would be the favorite to win.

Councilman Michael Russo, whose own father, Anthony, was jailed in 2004 on corruption charges in connection with his time as mayor from 1993 to 2001, is also another potential candidate for mayor. 

The young Russo's name went into circulation late Thursday afternoon.

Russo had contemplated a run at the empty mayor's seat earlier this year but backed down when internal polls showed him failing to gain traction beyond the 3rd Ward.

He ended up backing 2nd Ward Councilwoman Beth Mason.

2nd Ward Councilwoman Beth Mason

HOBOKEN – Councilwoman Beth Mason’s just left her campaign headquarters, and if anyone ever needed evidence that big money moves in and out of this narrow front door, in her absence, the candidate’s mobile face on a flat screen TV speaks to passersby on Washington Avenue. 

She’s on cable TV, too, and a Brian P. Stack-sized banner hangs on the side of campaign headquarters. Overlooking Washington Avenue in fullblown Diego Rivera glory stand Mason and her three crusading running mates. 

Circulating on these same streets, meanwhile, a Mason mailer shows Councilman Peter Cammarano’s head with rabbit ears popping in less than auspicious fashion out of a hat held by exuberant magic man Mayor David Roberts.

The implication is that Cammarano represents an elongation of the now gasping Roberts era. But the larger campaign implication is just as telling from this and a constant barrage of counterpunching mailers targeting Cammarano and not Mason’s other chief competitor in a six-person field:  if there must be a runoff, the Mason campaign wants to eliminate Cammarano now and deal one-on-one with Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer later.

Councilman Peter Cammarano

HOBOKEN – The rat mashed to death in the parking lot across the street from the PATH station was a sign of where the mayoral campaign was with five days left: somewhere between ugly and grisly.

Hours after a blog piece broke on Hoboken 411 highlighting what its author sees as the distance between Councilman Peter Cammarano’s family man image and the fact that he fathered a child out of wedlock when he was 18 who is not mentioned in his online biography and depicting him as a deadbeat dad, Cammarano stood in front of City Hall at noon and denounced the story as scurrilous and vile.

“I’m specifically laying it at the feet of Mason and Russo,” said the councilman, who had called the press conference to set out a “blueprint for the future” as a contrast to what he said were the personal destructive political machinations of one of his rivals in the mayor’s race, Councilwoman Beth Mason, and her ally, Councilman Michael Russo.

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%. 

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."

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.

Mayor David Roberts

HOBOKEN – Talk to the street players and they tell you Mayor David Roberts will run again next year, but talk to the man and he won’t reveal his intentions in what looms as a big battle, within a crucible of financial unrest.

“I have not been entertaining conversations about the upcoming mayor’s race,” Roberts told PolitickerNJ.com. “I’ve got other issues: the movie theater, the clock tower.”

But he concedes those are props in this unfolding drama, where the massive issue remains the fact that a state monitor assumed responsibility for the city’s finances. Taxes in Hoboken have ballooned in a government effort to collect $12 million in reserve accounts or to make up for money that otherwise couldn’t be accounted for in city coffers.

Roberts acknowledges the issue with pain in his voice.