Republicans struggle to raise money in Gottheimer’s district

In the race to pick a Republican challenger against Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff), both candidates are running on fumes.

Frank Pallotta has $40,713 cash-on-hand after raising $12,945 between April 1 and June 17, and John McCann has $12,086 in the bank following a $10,957 haul during the same time period.

Pallotta, a former investment banker from Mahwah, has raised $553,639 in his bid for the GOP nod in New Jersey’s 5th district, including $310,000 of his own money.  McCann, a former Cresskill councilman and Gottheimer’s 2018 opponent, has raised $173,678.

Gottheimer, the Human Fundraising Machine, raised a massive $867,000 from April 1 through June 17 and has more than $8.4 million banked.

Arati Kreibich, a Glen Rock councilwoman challenging Gottheimer in the Democratic primary, brought in $192,484 during the same time period and $474,812 so far this cycle.  She has $144,461 cash-on-hand.

An internal tracking poll conducted by the Gottheimer campaign and obtained and reviewed by the New Jersey Globe shows him with a 61%-21% lead over Kreibich.  With leaners added, Gottheimer’s head-to-head numbers against Kreibich move up to 66%-23%.

Two other Republican candidates, teacher James Baldini and physician Hector Castillo, are not expected to be factors in the race.

McCann has the organization line in Bergen County, Pallotta has scored endorsements from State Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Demarest) and Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi (R-River Vale).

Pallotta has the organization line in Passaic County and the endorsement of Sussex County Republican Chair Jerry Scanlan.

Gottheimer has raised nearly $5.3 million since the start of his second term and more than $16.8 million since becoming a congressional candidate in 2015.

He unseated seven-term Rep. Scott Garrett (R-Wantage) in 2016 by four percentage points and was re-elected by sixteen points against McCann in 2018.

Donald Trump carried New Jersey’s 5th district by one percentage point in 2016– a 4,089-vote plurality.

The district now has 8,401 more Democrats than Republicans.  That’s a shift from a GOP registration advantage of 2,370 on Election Day 2016.