Romano Again Fails to File Mandatory Campaign Finance Report, Hiding Donations and Expenses from Voters
Romano Again Fails to File Mandatory Campaign Finance Report, Hiding Donations and Expenses from Voters
Hoboken, NJ – Freeholder and Mayoral candidate Anthony Romano has seemingly again violated campaign finance reporting laws by failing to file the mandatory “29 Day Pre-Election” report with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission for either his mayoral or Freeholder campaigns. Reports for all other major mayoral candidates are publicly available at elec.state.nj.us. Romano did file a report for the joint candidate committee he is sharing with his Council slate, however the report shows minimal activity and does not include disbursement information for the numerous mailers, newspaper ads and paid staff that the Romano campaign has deployed in recent months carrying the tagline “Paid for by Romano for Mayor”. Mayoral candidate Mike DeFusco is calling for Romano to stop hiding his donors and expenses and follow campaign finance law by immediately releasing his 29 Day Pre-Election report for public view.
“This latest example of Anthony Romano ignoring campaign finance law and denying Hoboken voters the right to see who is funding his campaigns is simply outrageous and should be disqualifying for his candidacy,” said DeFusco. “Without this vital information, Hoboken voters have no idea what special interests are funding Romano’s campaigns for Mayor and Freeholder, how he’s spending money and what activities his campaigns have done. This is far from the first time that Freeholder Romano has violated campaign finance disclosure laws and it shows a total disregard for transparency and open government.”
Romano has a long history of failing to file campaign finance reports. He initially refused to file his official “Statement of Candidacy” form which is required to be filed before a campaign raises or spends any money. He failed to file any ELEC report from from November 3, 2014 through June 9, 2017, even though he was required to file quarterly during that time. Romano has also loaned his own campaigns over $100,000 in recent years. DeFusco previously raised concerns that Romano could be co-mingling funds between his Mayoral and Freeholder campaigns, which would be against state law, given that the two campaigns are using the same office space, consultants and staff.
Attached: Romano for Mayor newspaper ad that ran in the Hoboken Reporter on 9/17/17, which is within the reporting period for the 29 Day Pre-Election report and is one of many pieces of campaign material Romano’s campaign created during that time
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