Sherrill has $1.1 million warchest, raises $590k in 3rd quarter

Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) has raised $1,952,642 for her re-election campaign in New Jersey’s 11th district, including $590,158 during the 3rd quarter of 2019.

Sherrill has $1,149,535 cash-on-hand, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

No Republicans have come forward to challenge the freshman congresswoman, who flipped the 11th district seat after 34 years of Republican control.

Sherrill raised almost $8.5 million in her bid to flip New Jersey’s 11th district in 2018 and outspent her Republican opponent by an almost 5-1 margin for a seat that Republicans had held since 1984.

It was Sherrill’s early fundraising prowess – she had raised more than $1.2 million by the end of 2017 – that helped frighten twelve-term incumbent Rodney Frelinghuysen out of the race.  With a warchest of under $1.2 million, Frelinghuysen announced his retirement weeks after Sherrill announced her own fundraising numbers.

She won her House race by 46,262 votes, 47%-42%, against Republican assemblyman Jay Webber (R-Morris Plains) in 2018.

The 11th district has 4,057 more Republicans than Democrats and Donald Trump won it by 1% in 2016, but the GOP appears to view Sherrill as less beatable than five other New Jersey House Democrats.

Morris County Sheriff James Gannon has already said he will not run for Congress in 2020.

At a book signing in February, former Gov. Chis Christie touted his wife, Mary Pat, as a potential challenger to Sherrill.  Christie has not mentioned that since.

Newcomer Reinier Prijten had entered the race against Sherrill earlier this year but dropped out in May after a disastrous campaign roll-out.

He acknowledged a few days after entering the race that Prijten has never lived in New Jersey.  A spokesman said that he was living in California and was planning to move to Morristown in May.   Before moving to the West Coast, Prijten had lived in New York City and Westchester, records show.

Prijten faced some criticism for a racially-charged blog post in 2010 that suggested the United States’ Visa Waiver Program made the country vulnerable to terrorism because it could also be used by citizens of some European countries who also hold a passport from a majority-Muslim nation.  The Dutch-born financial services executive also missed voting in five of nine general elections since his naturalization in 2009.