Democrat Joseph Salerno raised over $200,000 in the last three weeks of June for his bid to unseat three-term Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis) in New Jersey’s 2nd district.
That brings the total raised by Salerno so far, including his personal contributions and loans, to over $1 million. That’s double what Alexander raised in entirety for his 2022 campaign against Van Drew; he lost that race by nineteen percentage points.
Salerno won the Democratic primary by 439 votes over Alexander, a 38%-27% margin in a four-candidate field. Alexander had raised $173,140 through May 15.
The sluggish count by some election officials cost Salerno some time.
Van Drew ran unopposed.
“My opponent didn’t have to tap into his incumbent war chest because he had an uncontested primary. So, we still have a lot of roads to make up,” Salerno said. “But it’s gratifying that more and more people are standing behind me with their votes, their hearts, and their financial support.”
Van Drew has not yet reported his second-quarter fundraising haul. He had $1,028,754 cash-on-hand as of May 15.
“He probably needs a lot more,” stated Salerno. “Lower quality products tend to spend more on marketing.”