The Human Fundraising Machine, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff), has a gargantuan $17 million cash on hand after raising a hefty $1,479,045 million during the fourth quarter of 2023.
That brings the four-term North Jersey congressman up to an imposing $4.9 million raised so far this cycle, giving him an immense warchest as he prepares to seek re-election to his 5th district House seat and possibly the Democratic nomination for governor in 2025.
Gottheimer has raised more than $33.3 million since becoming a candidate for Congress in 2015, not including funds he’s raised for other Democratic candidates.
He first went to Congress in 2016, ousting seven-term Rep. Scott Garrett (R-Wantage) by 14,897 votes, 51%-47%, in a district that Donald Trump won by one point. Gottheimer became the first Democrat to win New Jersey’s 5th district in 36 years.
The district remained competitive enough that Trump still won 47% in 2020; Gottheimer ran one point in front of Joe Biden against Frank Pallotta, an ex-Wall Streeter who put $1.5 million of his own money into the race; Gottheimer won by 31,842 votes.
Redistricting made the 5th more Democratic in 2022 when staunchly Republican towns in Warren County were replaced by new Democratic areas of Bergen County. The new lines would have meant a 12-point win for Biden. That gave Gottheimer a solid 10-point victory in a rematch with Pallotta, who did not spend much of his own money in 2022.
While Republicans had hotly contested primaries to pick a Gottheimer opponent in 2018, 2020, and 2022, there is little interest this year. So far, only Mary Jo Guinchard, a former mayor of Tuxedo Park, New York, and an unsuccessful candidate for Bergen County Commissioner last year, has entered the race for the GOP nomination.
A former Clinton White House speechwriter, Gottheimer has become an influential figure on Capitol Hill as the Co-Chairman of the House Problem Solvers Caucus and a seat on the Financial Services Committee. He’s also part of Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ inner circle.