N.J. donors have thus far chipped in roughly $1.21 million to the president's re-election campaign, and $1.15 million to GOP candidates, records show Watch video
Although New Jersey traditionally raises more money for Democratic presidential candidates than their Republican rivals, records show the two parties are nearly neck and neck thus far in campaign cash raised for next year's election.TRENTON — The early New Jersey returns on the presidential sweepstakes show Republican candidates neck-and-neck with President Obama in the battle for campaign cash.
New Jersey donors who have favored Democrats over Republicans by wide margins for decades have thus far chipped in $1,219,329 to the president’s re-election campaign, and $1,154,600 to the Republican presidential candidates, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has raised $702,996 of the total collected by Republicans as of Sept. 30, more than half of it from bankers. And that was before Gov. Chris Christie announced he wouldn’t run for president and then endorsed Romney, a move expected to bring him more Jersey cash.
At this point in the last election cycle, a Democratic field including Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton had raised $2 million more than Republicans, the records show.
"There has been disenchantment on Wall Street with the president’s policies, and a lot of those bankers live in New Jersey, especially the North Jersey suburbs," said Anthony Corrado, a campaign finance expert at Colby College and the Brookings Institution. "And part of it is (Obama) hasn’t been doing the aggressive fundraising in New Jersey yet that we’re likely to see when we’re early into next year."
Republicans said many GOP contributors remained on the sidelines until Christie ruled out a presidential run early last month. The financial impact of the governor’s decision to sit out the race and endorse Romney won’t be known until January, when new federal reports are released.
But Romney was already getting a warmer reception in New Jersey than he did when he sought the GOP nomination four years ago. He’s easily surpassed the $600,000 he got from New Jerseyans during the entire 2008 campaign.
"Governor Romney has a strong network of supporters in New Jersey, some of it left over from the last campaign and some who see he’s pro-job-, pro-growth-plans, and have jumped on board," said Ryan Williams, a spokesman for the Romney campaign.
Among Republicans, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas is running a distant second, raising $161,994 in New Jersey through a large grassroots network, records show. The only other candidate to crack six figures was Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who took in $105,945.
About 56 percent of Romney’s donations came from bankers, hedge fund managers and financial services workers. Only 9 percent of Obama’s money has come from the financial sector.
"The financial community is a strong base of support for Romney," Corrado said. "As I like to say, Wall Street is one of his home states along with Massachusetts and Michigan."
The Obama campaign said fundraising figures are just one barometer of voter interest, and it played down Romney’s early lead among financiers.
"We are excited to have over 29,000 people from New Jersey funding this campaign and over a million overall donors," said Ben Finkenbinder, a regional spokesman for the Obama campaign. "There are business leaders across industries who agree with the president that steps needed to be taken to ensure that the American people are never again held hostage by risky Wall Street deals that threaten our entire economy."
Despite the Obama campaign’s criticism of Wall Street, gaining its support can be a huge boost to a presidential campaign, as it was for the president in 2008.
Obama had been relying on former Gov. Jon Corzine as a top fundraiser and point man in the financial world. A former Goldman Sachs chief executive, Corzine raised or "bundled" nearly $500,000 for Obama’s re-election campaign. But his role will likely end now that he is wrapped up in federal probes and bankruptcy proceedings tied to MF Global, the Wall Street brokerage Corzine ran until he quit about a week ago.
"Jon had raised a significant amount for Obama already, so how much more he was able to raise after that" was an open question, said state Sen. Richard Codey (D-Essex), a former governor and prolific state fundraiser.
The Obama campaign has pledged to return Corzine’s $5,000 contribution if he is charged with civil or criminal wrongdoing. The same goes for the $5,000 donated by Brad Abelow, MF Global’s president and a former state treasurer and chief of staff under Corzine, according to an Obama campaign official who requested anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly about it.
Top Democratic donors are confident that despite Christie’s growing influence — he seriously dented Democratic dominance in fundraising for state campaigns after traveling the country raising cash — New Jersey would remain Democratic.
Orin Kramer, a hedge fund entrepreneur and Obama supporter, said the governor might boost Republican fundraising but swaying voters is another matter. "Ultimately, the voters will choose between the president and a Republican, and the governor will not have much of an influence on that," Kramer said.
With a little more than $1 million each raised by the parties, fundraising is down significantly from four years ago at this time, when Democrats had collected nearly $8 million, and Republicans $6 million.
Party leaders say four years ago, a contested Democratic primary and an earlier New Jersey primary opened up more checkbooks — adding that a tough economy hurts fundraising.
"Is it harder than it’s ever been before? Absolutely, positively," said Codey. "It’s disposable income, and disposable income is down significantly."
With its high concentration of wealthy donors, New Jersey is an important fundraising hub. For the 2008 election, New Jerseyans contributed $28.6 million to presidential candidates, making the state the eighth-biggest cash cow in the country.
"They treat it like their own ATM," said John Wisniewski, chairman of the state Democratic Party.
By Salvador Rizzo and Jarrett Renshaw/The Star-Ledger