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Publication Date: October 27th, 2025
Image Remixed from The Economist
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Joe Ferris (Democratic Party) largely self-finances and draws many small local donations, while Kamal (Working Families Party) relies on a handful of large checks, mainly from corporate and developer interests. The contrast reveals a simple story: independence versus dependency.
Campaign finance data from the NYS Board of Elections (as of September 29, 2025) shows two starkly different candidates (and funding) in Hudson’s 2025 mayoral race. Let’s dig in:
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Hudson’s elections are rarely quiet affairs. This year’s mayoral race is no exception. Behind the slogans and slogans-about-slogans lies the one metric that never lies: money. Campaign finance records from the New York State Board of Elections [see our References footer] reveal not just who’s winning the yard-sign war, but who’s actually paying for it.
The 2025 filings show two candidates moving in opposite financial directions. Joe Ferris, the newcomer, is funding himself and drawing small and medium sized checks from individual residents. Kamal Johnson, the incumbent, is taking larger contributions from corporations and political insiders. Their donor lists tell the story of two very different definitions of “community support.” Ferris’ absolute number of individual donors are more than 4 times that of Johnson’s, yet Johnson has lived in Hudson for just over 3 decades, and Joe just over 3 years.
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Curious for more news from the campaign trail? Our FOIL Files will expose what City Hall and Mayor Johnson doesn’t want you to see; official records, calendars, and documents that reveal how public resources and time are really spent. From the banal to the bombshells… subscribe to our newsletter to stay in the know. Normally only a monthly briefing, we will have more regular updates during this last 10 day sprint to election day.
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So it seems State Street in Albany is a bigger backer of State Street in Hudson?
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Democratic Party
Every big-dollar line you see here ($5,000, $6,000, $7,000) from 74 North Sixth Street, Hudson is Joe Ferris funding his own campaign. The state filing lists these as Candidate/Candidate Spouse contributions, confirming Ferris is literally backing himself.
This is the grassroots half of Ferris’s campaign: dozens of small checks, mostly from individual Hudson residents. The average gift sits around $100–$150, proof that Ferris for Hudson is locally and personally backed, not corporate-funded.
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Don’t Take Our Word For It… go see for yourself
The numbers don’t lie, and as they speak for themselves, we encourage you to also look for yourself.
Did your neighbors put their money where their vote is?
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Working Families Party
Fewer donors, larger (special interest) checks: The data shows a shorter donor list with higher average size, about $800. The distribution is top-heavy. Colarusso, Claire Cousins’ dark money, and the CFO of Bard seem to be the “Whales” behind Kamal.
Notable sources: Colarusso and Albany’s State Street–linked interests appear among the large entries, along with LLCs. These are all significant in a small city where large vendors and employers can shape outcomes. The current chair of the Planning Board, Theresa Joyner, who the mayor appointed, also chipped in to Kamal’s campaign. Nothing illegal about that - simply a reminder that in Hudson, the lines between planning and politics tend to share the same blueprint.
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Our recent exposé, Fibber on the Roof, highlighted just this point above: that Mayor Kamal loves to blur the lines.
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One of Kamal’s largest donors, Claire Cousin, famously raised nearly half a million dollars during her failed State Assembly run against Didi Barrett: most of it from For the Many and the Tides Foundation, two out-of-town special interests / Super PACs that are well-known for pushing rent control legislature and other anti-market policies. Cousin’s $1,000 contribution to Kamal suggests that money from those same dark-money networks is now flowing into Hudson’s mayoral race. Whether or not it’s a direct pipeline, the effect is the same: more outside influence, less local voice…
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Notable donors to Vote Kamal include Police Chief Mishanda Franklin and Planning Board Chair Theresa Joyner: two officials whose positions are appointed or directly influenced by the mayor. The list also features Paul Colarusso, the city’s most powerful corporate landholder, and the State Street Associates PAC, a corporate donor. Together, these names paint a clear picture: Kamal’s campaign is bankrolled not by residents at large, but by the institutions and insiders whose fortunes rise with City Hall decisions.
Kamal’s line about Ferris’s supporters “not being from Hudson” collides with the financing reality. Ferris shows more individual Hudson residents in the data than Kamal does, despite Ferris only living here about three years. Kamal has 30 years in town, yet relies more on large checks. New York City donors do appear for Ferris, but the more telling optic is Kamal’s biggest event in neighboring Kinderhook, not Hudson.
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Police Chief Mishanda Franklin appeared in Kamal’s donor filings, which raised ethical questions though not legal ones. After inquiry, we confirmed that she in fact donated equal sums to both the Ferris and Johnson campaigns. That even-handedness suggests a commitment to civic fairness rather than partisanship. Good. Public safety officials should maintain neutrality, and candidates should avoid using them as campaign props. The trust of the badge depends on staying above politics.
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VoteHudson2025: Recipient and donor?
“Vote Hudson 2025” appears first as a recipient**,** supported by Tom DePietro, then as a donor, supporting Vote Kamal, at the same address as Thomas DePietro (current, soon-to-be former, Common Council President). Odd setup, especially for Democratic Party loyalists who often rail against money in politics.
Image 1: All of the donations for 2025 made to “VoteHudson2025.” Notable donors include Tom DePietro, Kamal Johnson, and a large PAC…
Image 2: A donation made from Tom DePietro to VoteHudson2025, with DePietro’s address blocked in red.
Image 3: A donation made from Vote Hudson 2025 to Kamal Johnson’s campaign. Interestingly, Vote Hudson (the donor) has the same address as Tom DePietro…
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Hudson doesn’t need a mayor indebted to a small circle of corporate donors. It needs a mayor who can absorb pressure without blinking. Based on the data, that profile looks like Joe Ferris: high personal stake, many resident backers, gifts that read like household budgets, not lobbying budgets.
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Our Common Sense Editors reviewed contributor records from the NYS Board of Elections covering January 1 through October 27, 2025, then grouped entries by recipient committee as listed in the file and on the state site. We don’t cite exact totals because the state feed update unpredictably. Directional trends only… but they speak volumes.
**Using this data, we:
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In The Spirit of Intellectual Honesty….
Candidates file their donations and contributions on different dates, meaning that at the time of publication, the numbers were being tracked live (see a full schedule for 2025’s campaign financial disclosures here). A full analysis can only be run after the election, and claims about which candidate raised more from individuals (excluding funds from themselves) can only be made in retrospect. At the time of print, Candidate Ferris and Johnson had raised roughly the same amount of money, excluding their contributions to themselves.
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In the last week of the campaign, it seems that Candidate Lloyd Koedding has decided to raise some funds of his own. The letter below was shared with the Editors on October 28th. Koedding also seems to have endorses Caitie Hilverman for the Housing Justice Chief…
doc20251028144113_132182683735031.pdf
Common Sense’s Editors believe, perhaps idealistically, that local elections should not be miniature versions of Washington’s money machine. Campaigns ought to cost little more than the printing of a few leaflets and lawn signs, about $1,000-$5,000. Candidates should voluntarily agree to the same limit, not by rule of law but by conviction that persuasion should count more than patronage. What matters is independence of mind, values, track records of achievement, and the trust of resident voters, not the blessing of donors. By that measure, Ferris fares better. Yet even this choice is illusory. The ideal campaign is won by ideas and records, not by bank accounts, whether your own or some dark money triad’s. Citizens United may have entrenched money in politics, but principle still allows for restraint and that should be Hudson’s goal next election.
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