Shattering NJ record, Mikie Sherrill raises $1.9 million for House race

Shattering a record she set earlier this year, Democrat Mikie Sherrill raised $1.9 million during the three months ending June 30 for her campaign for an open House seat.

That total not only exceeds what any House candidate from New Jersey ever raised in one quarter before, it also exceeds the $1.6 million Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez raised during the same period.

Sherrill is a former Navy helicopter pilot who began running last year to oust House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-Harding. All told, Sherrill has raised $4.2 million, and she had $2.9 million in her account at the end of the quarter.

Frelinghuysen announced his retirement in January, setting off a scramble in the GOP to replace him that Assemblyman Jay Webber won in June's primary. Webber raised $340,000 during the quarter and had $172,000 in his account on June 30.

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Last week, it appeared the record for fundraising in a quarter had been set by Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat running for a second term in the 5th District who raised $1.5 million from April through June. The previous record of $1.1 million was set by Sherrill earlier this year.

The battle between Sherrill and Webber is one of the battlegrounds in Democrats' effort to capture a net 23 states around the country to win a majority in the House. Covering parts of Essex, Morris, Passaic and Sussex counties, the 11th District is home to many well-educated upscale residents whose support for Republicans has dropped significantly since the election of President Donald Trump.

Menendez, a Democrat from Harrison, is seeking his third term after spending most of last fall successfully battling a corruption indictment that ended with him being "severely admonished" by the Senate ethics committee. His $1.6 million total for the quarter compares with $1.7 million raised during the same period six years ago.

But Menendez ended June with $6.4 million in his campaign account, compared with $10.3 million at the end of the second quarter of 2012. Menendez faces a millionaire former pharmaceutical executive, Bob Hugin, who has not hesitated to put his own money into the race.

Hugin's campaign said he put $8 million into his campaign in the second quarter, on top of a $7.5 million loan earlier this year. After noting that Hugin had raised just $623,000 from donors, Menendez campaign chairman Michael Soliman said the Republican was trying to buy the election "with blood money he pocketed from ripping off cancer patients."

Hugin has been using his money to air television commercials touting his moderate stances on issues and attacking Menendez's ethics. But it is clear the candidates themselves will not be the only players in the race.

Last week, a super PAC funded by two hedge fund managers, Patients for Affordable Drugs Action, said it would spend $1.5 million on ads attacking Hugin over his record running Celgene Corp. 

On Monday, another super PAC, Integrity NJ, said it had raised $2 million that executive director Peter Sheridan said would be used "to shine a bright light on shamelessly corrupt Bob Menendez."

To date, handicappers have not deemed Menendez's race competitive, partly because of Trump's unpopularity in the state and New Jersey's history of rejecting Republican Senate candidates since 1976.

A Fairleigh Dickinson University poll taken before the primary in May found that the largest bloc of voters, 46 percent, was undecided, 28 percent backed Menendez and 24 percent backed Hugin.