9 months ago
New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy raised $3.2 million for her Senate campaign to replace indicted Sen. Bob Menendez, nearly doubling the amount her chief rival for the Democratic nomination, Rep. Andy Kim, in the last quarter of 2023.
In fourth quarter filings with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday, Kim’s campaign had raised a total of $2.77 million since the end of September, when he entered the race just after Menendez was indicted on corruption charges. Kim raised about $1 million in that one week before the fourth quarter started, on Oct. 1. Tammy Murphy entered the race six weeks after that, on Nov. 15.
Taking Kim's additional week of fundraising in the third quarter and campaign spending by both candidates since then into account, Kim and Murphy ended the year on roughly equal financial footing — each with about $2.7 million on hand, according to the FEC.
Their fundraising dwarfed Menendez's in the fourth quarter. He took in nearly $16,000 and refunded all of it, the filings show. But he still has about $6 million on hand from past fundraising, according to the records. A spokesperson for Menendez did not respond to a message seeking comment.
While Murphy raised more than Kim in the last three months of the year, the records show Kim's strength with small donors as he tries to harness grassroots support in the nomination battle with Murphy, who has broad organizational support in New Jersey.
Donations under $100 made up 55.7 percent of the Kim campaign’s contributions, but only 0.6 percent of the Murphy campaign's, according to the initial filings, not including those donated through ActBlue. The Kim campaign boasted that “92% of donations received were $100 or less, with $0 coming from the support of corporate PAC’s.”
“$100 might not seem like a lot to some, but I know what $100 means to working families. The support we’ve gotten from all 21 counties is a reminder that people are ready for change. The excitement we’ve seen across the state at our events is a reminder that people are fired up for a new kind of politics. We’re just getting started and I can’t wait to take this support into the final months of this election,” Kim said in a statement at his press release.
Former presidential and New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang; former New Jersey House member Rush Holt; former UN ambassador Susan Rice; and former Obama spokesperson and current "Pod Save America" co-host Tommy Vietor all donated to Kim. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ campaign committee also contributed to the Kim campaign, the filings show.
Murphy’s filing included a donation from Dorothea Bongiovi, the wife of Jon Bon Jovi. They are longtime friends and neighbors of the Murphys.
“Tammy has been humbled and energized by the groundswell of support her campaign has received from all 21 counties since she entered the race on November 15. Her historic fundraising numbers highlight that now, more than ever, New Jersey’s hardworking families are ready for a new energy and voice in Washington," Alex Altman, spokesperson for the Murphy campaign, wrote to POLITICO.
The Senate primary is in June.
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