As I wrote earlier this week, the New Jersey senate race is really taking off and the competition is close. The story out of NJ earlier this week concerned Frank Lautenberg’s family endorsing Cory Booker’s opponent. But now, it is going to be even harder to take down this ‘celebrity’ politician because he is a fundraising powerhouse. Cory Booker was able to raise $4.6 million in the second quarter, compared to a dismal $1.9 million in the first quarter.
Now Frank Pallone, Booker’s competition, is no chump when it comes to fundraising and has done quite well for his campaign. At the end of the last quarter Pallone reported having $3.7 million in the bank. But the latest numbers from Booker put him at $4.5 million cash on hand. We don’t have the latest numbers for Pallone yet, but it is quite possible that Booker may have taken the lead when it comes to cash.
With all this money Booker has now been able to launch two TV advertisements in this primary. He is the first one to be able to do so. And it is well known in the campaign world that TV ads work. So there is reason to be concerned with this effort.
But there is a slight hang up here in the world of Cory Booker fundraising. Of the 7,000 reported donors to the campaign, only 2,070 are from in state. This is a great opening for, not only his primary opponents, but potentially a Republican opponent to attack him. Obviously the element of celebrity has greatly affected Booker’s fundraising abilities.
With the primary only a little over a month away, the candidates are pulling out all the stops. Once Booker’s opponents release their fundraising numbers we will be better able to judge where this race lies. But in the meantime, everyone is going to have to start reaching out to their supporters to bring in the big bucks.