3 days ago
How are candidates for NJ governor spending in the last days of the primary campaign?
As early, in-person voting starts in the New Jersey primary election and gubernatorial candidates from both parties spend their days criss-crossing the state, some have a bit more money in the bank for the last minute push than others.
All nine major candidates for New Jersey governor — six Democrats and three Republicans — filed their 11-day pre-election contribution and expenditure report with the state's Election Law Enforcement Commission, or ELEC.
Some candidates are still actively spending, while others are sitting on campaign contributions, disclosure reports show.
On the Democratic side, U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill has spent the most since the candidates filed their 29-day preelection contribution and expenditure report in May. She's spent $4.1 million. For the Republicans, former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli is still the highest spender at $1.4 million.
As for who still has the most money to work with, U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Democratic candidate, has about $1.3 million left while Ciattarelli leads the Republicans with $1.285 million.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka raised the most money in the last few weeks of the campaign at $961,957. That's more than double former state Senate President Sweeney, who was second with $432,352.
Sherrill raised $273,077, Gottheimer raised $126,840, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop raised $124, 781 and teachers' union president Sean Spiller raised just $7,338.
The congresswoman led spending at $4.1 million, followed by Sweeney at $1.78 million, Baraka at $1.25 million, Gottheimer at $823,683, Fulop at $484,273 and Spiller at $361,683.
And while there's less than a week left until Election Day, every little bit helps, so having cash in the coffer matters. Gottheimer has the most at $1.3 million, followed by Sherrill at $902,507, Sweeney at $875,608, Fulop at $427,676, Baraka at $376,006 and Spiller at $96,758
Ciattarelli spent the most among the Republicans at $1.4 million but former radio personality Bill Spadea was not too far behind at $1.395 million while state Sen. Jon Bramnick spent $414,346.
Spadea held the lead in fundraising at $370,249 compared to $105,903 for Ciattarelli and just $37,900 for Bramnick.
In terms of cash in hand, Ciattarelli holds the advantage at $1.2 million compared to $887,010 for Spadea and $518,687 for Bramnick.
NJ Primary Election 2025: Our complete guide to voting, governor candidates, local races
Candidates also received funding and support from independent groups and PACs, or political action committees, during this cycle.
These groups typically contribute support to candidates based on ideology or party.
Spiller received close to $37.5 million during the campaign from an independent expenditure committee called Working New Jersey, which received all $40 million of its contributions this cycle from Garden State Forward, a PAC aligned with the teachers union.
There were two groups supporting Gottheimer for a total of more than $11 million this year. They were Affordable New Jersey and No Surrender, both of which bought TV ads for the congressman.
Another group known as One Giant Leap contributed about $3.7 million for Sherrill, and the Coalition for Progress backed Fulop as well as the slew of Assembly candidates he endorsed with $6.8 million.
Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@
This article originally appeared on NJ governor race 2025: Candidates spending before primary
