Signorello drops NJ-7 campaign, citing fundraising difficulties

Roselle Park Mayor Joe Signorello III officially announced today that he is dropping out of the race for the 7th congressional district, meaning that two Democratic candidates remain in the race to take on freshman Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield). The New Jersey Globe reported Signorello’s looming decision earlier this week.

The announcement marks a somewhat abrupt end to Signorello’s three-month congressional bid, but Signorello told the New Jersey Globe that it had been clear for a while that his campaign wasn’t picking up the steam he wanted it to.

“It’s depressing how much, early on, it is all about fundraising, fundraising, fundraising,” Signorello said. “I kind of already saw the writing on the wall in early September that we were going to have a quarter that we didn’t want. Our goal was to do at least over $200,000; we didn’t hit that.”

Signorello said that he was essentially boxed out by the two other Democratic candidates in the race, former New Jersey Working Families Party director Sue Altman and former U.S. State Department official Jason Blazakis. Each of them cornered a fundraising market Signorello was hoping to capture: local New Jersey donors and activists for Altman, D.C. donors and the financial services industry for Blazakis.

Given that he wasn’t keeping up with his opponents money-wise, Signorello said he saw no point in continuing to soldier on in a district where the eventual Democratic nominee will need all the money they can get for the general election.

“Do I think that there is the perfect candidate in the race to beat Tom Kean Jr.? I don’t know – and that includes myself,” he said. “But I do know that Jason, Sue, or whoever else is going to get in is going to need every dollar to beat him. The last thing I want to do is be some kind of hanger-on and siphon off resources from someone who should win.”

What’s more, with key legislative elections on the ballot in less than a month, much of the New Jersey world’s attention and money has been directed there instead. That’s a perennial challenge for New Jersey congressional candidates: breaking through the noise when so many local politicians are focused on their own races.

Signorello said he isn’t yet ready to back either Altman or Blazakis, though he indicated he may make an endorsement at some point. (Other candidates, most notably Summit Council President Greg Vartan, could still get in the race as well.)

A two-term mayor and former State Senate candidate, Signorello began this year as a candidate for U.S. Senate, running against Senator Bob Menendez. Signorello’s chief argument against the senator was that he had too many ethics issues; given Menendez’s indictment on federal bribery charges last month, those arguments would prove to be prophetic, but Signorello had already left the Senate race by then.

Asked whether he wished he hadn’t ditched his Senate campaign, Signorello said that he doesn’t think that would have changed much. Menendez challengers like Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown) would have gotten in the race regardless, he argued, and would probably have stolen most of his oxygen.

“I have zero regrets about coming out against Senator Menendez,” Signorello said. “[But] I think what happened would have happened one way or another… My whole play for the Senate seat was to be the anti-Menendez. And I think that there are too many other well-funded congresspeople to not have had this happen.”

“Had I stayed in, I think I would have had a day or two on CNN, and it would have been fun,” he continued. “I would have had a fundraising pop. And then Andy Kim would have come in, fundraised a million dollars, and one of us would have been the more credible candidate.”

After three different campaigns for higher office in two years, Signorello said that he’s ready to give it a rest for now. Noting that so many campaigns could make him look like a “ladder-climbing monster” to some people, he wants to thoroughly devote the next phase of his political life to his hometown.

“There’s a lot that I still need to do in Roselle Park, and there’s a lot that I can do in Roselle Park,” he said. “My goal for the next five to ten years is to be the best mayor I can be.”