An analysis of notable fundraising reports as Assembly races intensify

Money talks.

When voters elect the next iteration of New Jersey’s General Assembly this June and November, they will do so in elections without the county line for the first time in decades. The effects of a line-less election cycle are yet unclear, but money might be more important than ever.

Fundraising totals can also signal retirement, strength, or surrender.

The New Jersey Globe has compiled notable legislative fundraising reports for the fourth quarter of 2024 (October through December). Data is retrieved from the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, which requires quarterly disclosures.

The races include seats that could be decided in the primaries, in the general election, or by retirements. Fundraising can also switch like a flip, especially for candidates who are just now launching their re-election campaigns.

The following list loosely follows the New Jersey Globe’s ranking of the 10 Assembly members least likely to return in 2026:

Julio Marenco raises $0

One of the surest signs of political retreat is a slowdown in fundraising. That appears to be the case for Assemblyman Julio Marenco (D-North Bergen), who raised $0 in the last three months of 2024.

Marenco, who represents the 33rd district, spent about $2,400 in that span, leaving him with $17,500 cash on hand. But a complete lack of fundraising likely signals that Marenco has realized he has fallen out of favor with Union City Mayor/State Sen. Brian Stack.

Marenco won his seat after the last cycle of redistricting when former State Sen. Nicholas Sacco was drawn into the same district as Stack. Sacco gave up the senate seat in exchange for a selection on the Assembly slate, and he chose an ally in Marenco.

The relationship between Stack and Sacco has since soured, though, and Stack is reportedly looking to replace Marenco with one of his own allies. If and when Stack pulls the trigger, the deck is immediately stacked against the incumbent’s favor. A $0 fundraising quarter definitely won’t help things, either.

If Marenco gets into a testy race, though, North Bergen Democrats could help fund his campaign. The North Bergen Democratic Municipal Committee has $657,983 on hand, according to their most recent filing.

The 28th district Democrats

There’s still no word on whether Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker (D-Newark) will run for re-election. The 81-year-old could be eyeing retirement, and a low bank account could be an early signifier.

Tucker raised just $2,500 in the final quarter of 2024, all of it a single donation from a carpenters union. (Another $500 was returned to her account in the form of a refunded disbursement.)

Tucker now has just $2,983 cash on hand. If she decides to run, there could be a primary race that gets expensive.

Assemblywoman Garnet Hall (D-Maplewood) announced a re-election campaign last fall, one that could be wrought with a tough primary battle.

Hall raised $7,700 in the final quarter of 2024 and spent about $5,000 — she entered 2025 with $13,500 cash on hand.

Rematches in LD-8

Assemblyman Michael Torrissi (R-Hammonton) launched his re-election bid last week in a district that served as the battleground for one of 2023’s tightest legislative races.

Torrissi raised $810 in the three months before he launched his re-election campaign, but the businessman will be raising at least a tad bit more with his campaign in full swing. Torrissi had $17,825 on hand entering 2025 and is also potentially capable of self-funding if needed.

His likely running mate, former Assemblyman Brandon Umba, raised $20,000 in the last quarter of 2024. Umba now has $28,000 on hand for what is expected to be a tight race against Democrats.

​​Assemblywoman Andrea Katz (D-Chesterfield), who ousted Umba in 2023, raised nearly $43,000 in the fourth quarter of 2024, giving the 8th district legislator $110,000 on hand as she entered the new year.

Katz must survive a three-person primary and then defeat Republicans in what is expected to be a competitive general election. She’s shaping up to have a clear financial advantage. The assemblywoman is blowing her Democratic and Republican opponents out of the water, and this doesn’t include the soft money she’ll likely receive from the South Jersey Democratic organization.

Another Democrat running for the seat is Evesham Councilman Eddie Freeman III. Freeman raised $12,000 in the last three months of 2024. Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop is backing Freeman’s campaign, one of many Assembly upstarts the anti-establishment gubernatorial candidate is pushing throughout the state.

Hammonton Education Association president Anthony Angelozzi, who finished third in the general election in 2023 (outperforming Umba), recently filed to run for the seat and has not filed any fundraising totals.

Sean Kean awaits his fate

Assemblyman Sean Kean (R-Wall) raised $16,400 and spent about $12,500 in the final quarter of 2024. The 30th district assemblyman entered 2025 with $19,000 cash on hand.

Kean represents one of the state’s reddest districts, a Monmouth and Ocean county district that supported Trump by nearly a 50-point margin this November. But because Kean also represents Lakewood, one of the state’s most politically bizarre municipalities, nothing can be taken for granted.

Lakewood is overwhelmingly comprised of Orthodox Jewish voters — they’re conservative, but they’ll also support the endorsees of Orthodox leadership. Such an endorsement would be worth more than every other donation combined.

3rd district Democrats raise the barricades  

Assemblyman Dave Bailey (D-Woodstown) and Assemblywoman Heather Simmons (D-Glassboro) are likely to face a strong GOP challenge this fall.

Bailey raised $19,000 in the last quarter and spent $15,000, keeping his cash on hand to about $54,000. Simmons raised $29,000 and spent about $12,000, giving her $72,000 cash on hand. They also share $2,000 in a joint committee.

The Democrats don’t have clarity on who their opponents will be, though. No Republicans have filed as party leaders from three counties try to figure out who to run.

Can Muñoz hold on in LD-21?

Assemblywoman Nancy Muñoz (R-Summit) is potentially vulnerable in both the primary and general elections this year. The assemblywoman raised $28,200 in Q4, leaving her with $78,191 on hand at the start of 2025.

Former Summit GOP Municipal Chairman Steve Spurr, meanwhile, launched a primary campaign last year and appears to be targeting Muñoz specifically. Spurr, though, filed an initial form signaling that he plans to spend no more than $5,800 in the primary, but he could always change his mind.

Assemblywoman Michele Matsikoudis (R-New Providence), meanwhile, had a strong fundraising quarter. She raised $38,000 and spent $12,000, putting her cash on hand at the start of 2025 at $74,000.

The winners of the Republican nomination will likely have to face former prosecutor Andrew Macurdy. The 38-year-old Democrat raised a dazzling $94,000 in the first 50 days of his candidacy.

Boatloads of cash in the 32nd district

Assemblyman John Allen (D-Hoboken) was ranked 10th in the New Jersey Globe’s initial Least Likely to Return rankings. The 32nd district Democrat rocketed himself to the top of the list last week when he announced his retirement and ended any speculation of his return.

As usual, his fundraising numbers reflected his retirement plans. He raised only a couple thousand dollars in the fourth quarter and spent nearly $9,000. He now has just $1,627 on hand, and deciding how to spend it or where to distribute it is largely up to him.

Instead, Allen deferred to Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, for whom he worked as chief of staff.

Bhalla has $25,900 in his mayoral account, funds he can transfer to his nascent Assembly campaign. The mayor will need those funds in what is gearing up to be a competitive primary.

Also in the competition is former Murphy administration official Katie Brennan, who raised a gargantuan $84,750 in the last quarter of 2024. She entered 2025 with $76,000 on hand.

Freshman Assemblywoman Jessica Ramirez (D-Jersey City) is running for re-election and must fend off either Brennan or Bhalla. She’s recognized it will be an expensive race: The Jersey City Democrat raised about $40,000 in the fourth quarter and buttressed the funds with an $80,000 loan to her own campaign. Ramirez entered 2025 with $130,000 on hand.

Updated: Jan. 12, 6:08 p.m.