New Jersey's Democratic House candidates are out-raising their Republican opponents 4-to-1 — even in the state's four most competitive districts.
Democratic candidates have a roughly 8-to-1 advantage over Republicans in the amount of cash they have left in the bank — $31.2 million to $3.9 million, according to reports recently filed with the Federal Election Commission.
In the state's four most competitive districts — the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 11th — Democrats' cash-on-hand advantage is 10 to 1: $23.3 million to $2.3 million. Republicans in those districts carry more than $2 million in debt, mostly to themselves for campaign loans.
But in two key districts, Republicans have out-paced Democrats in outside spending from super PACs and other independent expenditure groups.
The fundraising numbers, which cover the period from July 1 to Oct. 1, show that despite a national environment that favors Republicans, most of New Jersey’s GOP candidates — running under a new district map that was drawn by Democrats — have struggled to raise enough money to be competitive against well-entrenched Democratic incumbents.
Democrats currently have a 10-2 majority in New Jersey’s House delegation, which as recently as 2016 was split 6-6.
Here are the fundraising numbers for the four most competitive districts:
DISTRICT 7
In this Central Jersey district, which includes all or part of six counties, two-term incumbent Democrat Tom Malinowski last quarter raised $1.8 million, spent $3.3 million and has $2.8 million in the bank. His Republican challenger, Tom Kean Jr., who came within one point of unseating Malinowski in 2020, raised $865,909, spent $1 million and has $1.2 million on hand.
Democrats last year drew Malinowski’s district to be slightly more Republican to shore up other potentially-vulnerable incumbents. That, combined with an ethics committee review into Malinowski’s late reporting of stock trades and the close call against Kean Jr. in the last election, has led most political prognosticators to favor Kean Jr., in next month's midterm election.
Malinowski’s fundraising advantage, however, is offset by a huge infusion of outside cash coming in to help Kean Jr. According to Open Secrets, two Republican groups — the Congressional Leadership Fund and the National Republican Congressional Committee — have spent almost $3 million in the district, mostly against Malinowski. Several Democratic groups and labor unions have spent about $850,000, mostly against Kean Jr.
The Malinowski-Kean race is expected to be New Jersey's most competitive race.
DISTRICT 3
Two-term Democratic Rep. Andy Kim is running against Republican Bob Healey, who owns a yacht-building company. The district includes parts of Burlington, Mercer and Monmouth counties.
Kim last quarter raised $1.1 million, spent $2.5 million and has $3.1 million left in the bank. Healey raised $382,000, spent $1.2 million and has $654,000 left over. Much of Healey’s campaign has been self-financed and he reported almost $1.3 million in debt.
Healey’s mother has picked up the slack as the primary funder of a super PAC called Garden State Advance that, according to Open Secrets, has spent nearly $2.7 million to help his campaign, mostly on negative ads against Kim.
The district is the second most competitive in the state, but Kim is still favored to win reelection.
DISTRICT 5
Three-term Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer faces a re-match against Republican Frank Pallotta, a financial adviser, in this North Jersey district that includes parts of Bergen, Passaic and Sussex counties.
Gottheimer, a moderate who co-chairs the Problem Solvers Caucus, is a prolific fundraiser. Last quarter he raised $1.1 million to Pallotta’s $267,000 and spent $1.1 million to Pallotta’s $160,000. Much of Pallotta’s campaign money has come from his own pocket.
The most whopping disparity is how much each candidate has in the bank: Gottheimer has $14 million left to spend compared to $171,000 for Pallotta.
DISTRICT 11
Two-term Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill faces Republican Paul DeGroot, a former prosecutor in Passaic County, in this North Jersey district that includes parts of Essex, Morris and Passaic counties.
Sherrill last quarter raised $970,000 to DeGroot’s $172,000, and spent $3.7 million to DeGroot’s $175,000. Sherrill has $3.4 million in the bank to DeGroot’s $279,000.
According to Open Secrets, Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot, has also benefited from $790,000 in outside spending — primarily from the groups VoteVets and Shield PAC — while DeGroot hasn’t seen any.
