House candidate had debt that was undisclosed in initial fundraising announcement

Republican congressional candidate Nick De Gregorio was in a strong financial position after just two months in the race, just not as strong as was originally portrayed.

De Gregorio posted remarkable fundraising numbers for his first couple months in the race, announcing on January 11 that he had raised $403,000 for his bid to unseat Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff) in New Jersey’s 5th district.    His exact fourth quarter 2021 haul was $406,522.

He also said he had $360,00 in the bank, but that total comes with a few asterisks.

By the time DeGregorio filed his first Federal Election Report on January 31, he had  $74,432 in debt – three unpaid invoices from consultants that actually reduces De Gregorio’s liquidity to $286,805.

According to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, De Gregorio owes $50,932 to Targeted Victory, a Virginia-based digital media firm headed by Mitt Romney’s 2012 digital director, Zac Moffatt.  Red Elephant Strategy, GOP ad production firm, is owed $15,500.  De Gregorio has an $8,000 unpaid invoice to Tusk Productions, a top Republican fundraising consultant.

All three of these debts were incurred prior to the end of the reporting period on December 31, 2021 but were not included in the fundraising numbers released by the De Gregorio campaign less than two weeks later.

Still, De Gregorio has put himself into a stronger position than one of his opponents in the June Republican primary, investment banker Frank Pallotta.

Pallotta raised a measly $59,325 during the fourth quarter of 2021 and has a meager $97,800 banked for a rematch of his 2020 race against Gottheimer.  He’s still carrying $400,000 in debt from his last campaign.

Another Republican candidate and potential self-funder, businessman Fred Schneiderman, entered the race earlier this month and doesn’t need to report his fundraising numbers until April. 15.

None of these candidates are in the range of Gottheimer, the Human Fundraising Machine.  He has over $12 million cash-on-hand.