Grossman raises roughly $80,000 in third quarter

Seth Grossman said his campaign brought in roughly $80,000 in the third quarter, bringing the candidate’s total raised for the cycle to about $160,000, a figure that falls short of a $200,000 milestone the candidate had hoped to reach by the end of September.

“We were hoping to get $200,000, and we ended up raising $160,000, so we’re $40,000 short, which means we can fully-fund a really what we call a robust campaign — an effective campaign — until Halloween,” Grossman said. “So we run out of money on Halloween, and I’m hopeful and confident that, between now and the end of October, we’ll raise the funds to continue an effective campaign to win this race.”

Grossman’s campaign saw a grassroots fundraising surge in June after reports emerged about his previous statements on diversity.

The candidate has largely relied on small-number donations to keep his relatively cash-strapped campaign in the race for retiring Rep. Frank LoBiondo’s House seat.

Failing to meet the self-imposed fundraising milestone isn’t much of a hit for Grossman, who fields a slimmer campaign staff than Democrat Jeff Van Drew.

Though he didn’t reach the milestone, he still pulled in about $20,000 more than he did during the second quarter, when he raised $62,312.98.