Republican Michael Testa, Jr. has a substantial fundraising edge over incumbent State Sen. Bob Andrzejczak (D-Middle) in a closely-watched special election for State Senate in the 1st district.
Testa, the Cumberland County GOP chairman, reported raising $133,552 and had $62,462 cash-on-hand, according to his 29-day pre-election report filed with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.
Andrzejczak, who took the Senate seat in January after Jeff Van Drew (D-Dennis) resigned to take his seat in Congress, reported raising $19,130 in a joint account with Assembly incumbents Bruce Land (D-Vineland) and Matthew Milam (D-Vineland). They have $12,988 remaining in their campaign account.
The numbers do not include any spending by Senate President Steve Sweeney’s leadership PAC, which has the potential to return a fundraising edge to Democrats.
Van Drew’s congressional campaign sent $3,000 to his fellow Democrats.
The GOP Assembly candidates, Erik Simonsen and Antwan McClellan, reported that they do not plan to raise more than $9,700 during the primary.
Republicans held the 1st district seat for 34 years until Van Drew ousted incumbent Republican Nicholas Asselta (R-Vineland) in 2007. The GOP is making a big play to regain the seat.
This is the only State Senate seat up in 2019.
