Including matching funds, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop has over $19 million raised for the New Jersey governor’s race next year, campaign finance reports show.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
The majority of the financing for Fulop’s pursuit of Drumthwacket is currently linked to the Coalition for Progress super PAC, which has $8,452,350.72 cash on hand after raising $1,205,087.53. in the first quarter of 2024, according to their April 12th report filed with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC).
Hudson Regional Hospital and their chairman, Yan Moshe, combined for $150,000 in donations, Ironstate President David Barry gave $50,000, along with a combined $10,000 from Remington Varnick and consultant Joey Muniz, a local political operative, and $5,000 from the campaign account of former Assembly Speaker Vinny Prieto.
The donations from HRH and Moshe came after it appeared that they would bury the hatchet with their old rivals at CarePoint Health to form Hudson Health System, but that’s up in the air with a financial monitor at CarePoint, whose economic woes are considerable.
“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,” Coalition for Progress Chair Drew Nussbaum, also the business partner of the mayor’s wife, said in a statement.
“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.”
Over the past year, the PAC has also contributed to the victories of Hillside Mayor Dahlia Vertreese, Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora, and Hudson County Executive Craig Guy.
While the April 15th report the Fulop for governor campaign filed with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (NJ ELEC), is largely uneventful, raising $35,968.72 and spending $43,423.63, they still have $2,710,613.76 cash on hand.
That would give Fulop over $7.8 million in matching funds, for about $19 million overall, with ELEC expected to increase that match by the time the governor’s race rolls around next year (the primary is on June 3rd, 2025).
There is also another $312,347.47 cash on hand in another super PAC, the Fund for Quality Leadership Fund, which hasn’t filed a report with NJ ELEC since July 21st of last year.
As of July 10th, 2023, Fulop had raised over $13 million for the 2025 gubernatorial race, as HCV first reported.
The other two declared Democrats in the race, former state Senate President Steve Sweeney and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, reported raising $1,291,850.56 and $96,423, respectively, during the first quarter of the year in their April 15th ELEC reports.
