DeGroot raises just $21K in Q2, loans $200k to his campaign against Sherrill in NJ-11

Republican Paul DeGroot raised just $21,180 from donors over the last three months in his bid to unseat Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) in New Jersey’s 11th district and has $282,605 cash-on-hand after loaning $200,00 to his campaign one day before the end of the second quarter.

DeGroot has self-funded about 88% of his campaign so far.

The former assistant Passaic County Prosecutor has raised $464,779 since entering the race for Congress last year, including $407,521 in personal loans he’s made to his own campaign.

He has spent $182,173, much of it to notch an upset victory in the Republican primary against Morris County Commissioner Tayfun Selen, who had been the front-runner.

DeGroot defeated Selen by four percentage points and a 1,292-vote plurality, after winning the Passaic County portion of the district with 73% of the vote.  Selen only won Morris by 1,008 votes and Essex by 75.

Sherrill, a two-term incumbent, raised more than $1 million during the second quarter and has over $6.1 million in her campaign account.

DeGroot’s biggest post-primary donor, besides himself, is former Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-Harding), who used his old campaign account to contribute $2,900 toward the campaign to oust Sherril.

The new congressional map approved in redistricting late last year made the 11th more favorable to Democrats, removing some heavy Republican areas – Sussex County is no longer in the district – and replacing it with liberal enclaves like Maplewood and Millburn, along with some politically competitive municipalities.  The new district gave Joe Biden a 17-point advantage In the last presidential election.