HCDO paid Craig Guy $40K as treasurer, ELEC reports show

HUDSON TV EXCLUSIVE: JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The Hudson County Democratic Organization paid Craig Guy $1,666.67 a month as its treasurer throughout 2022 and 2023, while he was also chief of staff to then-County Executive Tom DeGise, according to the party’s quarterly reports to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC).

Guy, now Hudson County Executive, has chaired the HCDO since June 2024. As treasurer, he certified most of the reports that list his own pay.

24 Monthly Payments

The party’s eight Form R-3 reports for 2022 and 2023 list 24 payments to Guy, one a month from Jan. 14, 2022, through Dec. 12, 2023. Each was $1,666.67 except a March 15, 2023, check for $1,666.66. Together they total $40,000.07: $20,000.04 in 2022 and $20,000.03 in 2023.

Twenty-three of the payments carry the purpose “SALARY-TAXES-FEES – TREASURER.” One, check No. 15047 on June 15, 2023, is labeled “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,” the title the same reports give Julietta Vogt, who was paid $3,333.33 in most months of the same period.

The reports also list a $577.50 “SALARY-TAXES-FEES – ADP TAXES” debit on Oct. 17, 2023, with Guy as the payee. The party’s other monthly tax debits in the period went to payroll firm ADP.

He Signed the Reports

Guy was not paid as treasurer while someone else held the post. He was the HCDO’s treasurer, a role he kept when Anthony Vainieri became chairman in June 2022, and his name appears on the treasurer’s certification of seven of the eight reports, from the first quarter of 2022 through the third quarter of 2023.

The fourth-quarter 2023 report, which includes his last two payments, was certified on Jan. 16, 2024, by Vogt. A day earlier, the party filed a Form D-3 naming Vogt as its new treasurer. Guy took office as county executive on Jan. 1, 2024.

The last two checks, on Nov. 15 and Dec. 12, 2023, came after Guy won the Nov. 7 election for county executive, when he was still DeGise’s chief of staff.

A County Job at the Same Time

Guy had been DeGise’s chief of staff since 2016, The Jersey Journal reported in August 2022, putting his county pay at about $156,000 a year. He was still in that job in November 2023, when, as county executive-elect, he named his own successor, NJ.com reported.

Paid party work by a public employee is not illegal on its own, and the reports do not show whether any HCDO work was done on county time.

Questions for Guy

Hudson TV asked Guy on Oct. 29, through the HCDO with a copy to his county office, what duties the payments covered and whether the role changed in June 2023, whether the party work was done outside county hours, whether he reported the income on his county financial disclosure statements for 2022 and 2023, and why the payments ended after December 2023. Hudson TV asked for answers by noon Friday.

Guy and the HCDO did not respond by Friday’s noon deadline to questions Hudson TV sent Oct. 29.

Hudson TV previously reported that county contractors gave $562,600 to Guy’s campaign and the HCDO and that the County Executive’s office payroll budget rose 54.6%.

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Records Cited

• HCDO Form R-3 quarterly reports, 2022–2023 (ELEC DocIds 3690459, 3702450, 3719752, 3733744, 3766828, 3766829, 3782821, 3797824), expenditure schedules and treasurer certifications.
• HCDO Form D-3, new treasurer designation, received by ELEC Jan. 15, 2024 (DocId 3797472).
• The Jersey Journal/NJ.com, Aug. 2022 and Nov. 13, 2023; Hudson County View, June 15, 2022, and June 17, 2024; New Jersey Globe, Nov. 13, 2023.
• What we checked: every payment, date, check number and purpose line against the filed reports; totals calculated by Hudson TV.