A super PAC connected to Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop raised a whopping $1.25 million so far this year and now has a gargantuan $8.5 million cash-on-hand.
Between his super PAC, Coalition for Progress, and a campaign account that will receive a near 2-1 match under New Jersey’s public financing law, Fulop could have nearly $14 million to spend in a bid to succeed term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy next year.
While most of the money raised by the super PAC is expected to boost Fulop’s gubernatorial bid, the group announced today that it plans to make an investment in support of Sue Altman, the presumptive Democratic nominee for Congress in New Jersey’s 7th district.
“Coalition for Progress has been honored to support several talented, dedicated candidates for office in recent cycles, and we are excited to get to work helping elect Sue Altman so she can stand up for working families and help Democrats win back the House,” said Drew Nussbaum, the super PAC chairman.
Altman, a former New Jersey Working Families state director, is taking on freshman Rep. Thomas Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield) in one of the most competitive House races in the nation.
Since joining the governor’s race nearly one year ago, Fulop quickly raised enough to qualify for a full match. He has reached the maximum amount faster than any gubernatorial candidate in New Jersey history.
By participating in the state’s public financing program, Fulop must agree to a spending limit for the primary. In the super PAC era, this is an easy call.
Between the launch of his candidacy on April 11, 2023, and the end of last year, Fulop raised $2,984,703 and finished 2023 with $2,718,068 in the bank. His first quarter report is due next week.
The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission sets campaign contribution limits and spending caps and historically adjusts the amount for inflation. In 2021, the contribution limit for the primary election was $4,900; with a $4.6 million cap on matching funds, candidates had a $7.3 million spending limit in the primary campaign. In the last election, there was a deductible of $156,000 before funds were matched.
Last July, Joseph Donohue, the acting executive director of the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, told the New Jersey Globe that marching funds won’t be awarded until early 2025, regardless of when a candidate qualifies. According to Donohue, thresholds to qualify, contribution limits, and caps on campaign spending will be set around December 15, 2024.
“During both a critical election year for our country and a time of significant change in the New Jersey political landscape, I could not be more proud of our organization’s success in continuing to bring in significant resources to support candidates who share our values,” Nussbaum said.
The only other announced Democratic candidate, former Senate President Steve Sweeney, raised $205,205 after being in the race for the last 20 days of 2023. He has not yet filed his first-quarter fundraising numbers.
The lone announced candidate for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, State Sen. Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield), raised $800,000 in his first nine weeks in the race. Former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (R-Somerville), who came within three points of beating Murphy in 2021, will formally announce his candidacy next week.
Raising enough to get 100% of the available matching funds isn’t always an easy task. In 2017, Republican Kim Guadagno, the sitting lieutenant governor, couldn’t hit that mark. Four years later, candidates needed to raise $490,000 to qualify for matching funds; only Murphy and Ciattarelli did so.
Coalition for Progress spent money to boost the re-election campaigns of Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora and Hillside Mayor Dahlia Vertreese and to help Craig Guy win his 203 race for Hudson County Executive.