The Republican committee backing Delia Hamlet and Jamel Boyer for Summit City Council raised more than $52,000 ahead of the Nov. 3 election, campaign-finance filings show.

On the Democratic side, the Summit Municipal Democratic Committee sent $21,000 to Summit Forward, the party's general-election committee. The figures come from an analysis of New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) records first reported by NJ21st on Oct. 21. The filings, received through Oct. 19, are not final totals.

Republican money trail

The Hamlet-Boyer joint general-election committee reported $52,541.01 in receipts and $42,396.23 in expenses in its 29-day pre-election report. Boyer's candidate committee contributed $13,500 and Hamlet's contributed $15,500. The Summit Republican City Committee added $10,000. CC Pilates, classified as a business contribution, gave $2,500. NJ21st found no evidence of city contracts with that business in the records it reviewed.

The biggest individual donors were Robert and Kathleen Hugin. Each gave $5,500 to Boyer's committee and $5,500 to Hamlet's, totaling $22,000. Robert Hugin, also known as Bob Hugin, ran for U.S. Senate in 2018. NJ Spotlight News reported in November 2025 that Hugin, a former state GOP chairman, gave $500,000 to a group backing Jack Ciattarelli's gubernatorial campaign.

One filing detail remains unclear. The Republican party committee's report lists a $10,000 expense on Sept. 21 to "Together for Summit," described as a charitable donation. The joint committee separately lists a $10,000 receipt from the Republican committee dated Sept. 18. NJ21st said it could not determine from the filings whether those two entries are connected.

Democratic money trail

Summit Forward's contribution records confirmed the $21,000 in three receipts from the Democratic committee. Councilmember Jaclyn Lasaracina contributed $10,000 to Summit Forward. Council President Claire Toth gave $1,500 to Summit Forward, $15,100 to the municipal committee, and $2,500 each to the primary committees for Emily Seelaus and Liz Skoler.

The Democratic committee also received $5,000 from Scutari for Senate.

Summit Forward reported $29,140.56 in expenses. The two largest payments went to Great Society Strategies, a Democratic consulting firm, at $16,821, and Navigate Campaigns at $11,314.15.

Primary spending

During the primary, Summit Forward listed $17,030 in total receipts, including $13,422 in itemized contributions. The committee carried $15,761.37 into the general election as its opening balance.

Pawlowski is not running in the general election.

Local donors drive both sides

NJ21st noted that, unlike Berkeley Heights, Summit's campaigns drew primarily from local donors and local party leaders. Hamlet told the SNP Rotary Club on Sept. 28 that "national politics simply has no place in Summit's politics."

The figures come from 29-day pre-election reports filed Oct. 5 and earlier primary reports filed May 5, May 20 and June 19.