A super PAC allied with Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop has a colossal $9 million cash-on-hand after raising more than $575,000 in the second quarter of 2024.

Coalition for Progress has raised a mammoth $1.825 million so far this year to back up Fulop’s bid for the Democratic nomination for governor next year and in support of Democratic candidates.  The super PAC has raised over $11 million since its inception in 2015.

Fulop announced his candidacy in April 2023 and quickly raised enough to qualify for matching funds under the state’s public financing law.   He’ll be eligible to receive $5.5 million in public funds, giving him $8.7 million to spend in the primary.  The $9 million in the Coalition for Progress account gives him $17.7 million in resources right now, more than ten months before the gubernatorial primary.

“With the Supreme Court and MAGA Republicans continuing their assault on some of our most fundamental rights and the rule of law, organizations like Coalition for Progress that advocate for common sense, forward-thinking leadership have never been more important,” said Drew Nussbaum, the PAC chairman. “We’re grateful to all of our contributors who believe in our mission and look forward to helping elect candidates who will deliver progress for the middle class.”

Raising enough to get 100% of the available matching funds isn’t always an easy task.  In 2017, Republican Kim Guadagno, the sitting lieutenant governor, couldn’t hit that mark.  Four years later, candidates needed to raise $490,000 to qualify for matching funds; only Murphy and Ciattarelli did so.

The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, which administers the matching funds program, has raised the contribution limit from $4,900 to $5,800; that gives Fulop a chance to go return to donors and seek an additional $900 contribution.

So far, Fulop faces former Senate President Steve Sweeney, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, and former Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller, the president of the New Jersey Education Association, in the Democratic primary.  Others could join them, including Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff) and Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair), Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, former Deputy U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Jim Johnson, and U.S. Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs Shereef Elnahal, a former state health commissioner.,

On the Republican side, State Sen. Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield), former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (R-Somerville), former State Sen. Ed “The Trucker” Durr (R-Logan), and NJ 101.5 radio host Bill Spadea have announced their candidacies for governor.  Former Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac is also mulling a bid for the GOP nomination.

Atlantic County Democratic Chairman Michael Suleiman wants Joe Biden to remain in the race and is calling on other New Jersey Democrats to reaffirm their support of the president for a second term.

“The corporate media and political elites want to dump President Biden because they’ll benefit from the chaos.  Regular folks I talk to outside of the political bubble are sticking with Joe, and so am I,” Suleiman said.  “Democratic primary voters overwhelmingly voted for the Biden-Harris ticket, and the wishes of our rank-and-file members should not be cast away.”

Suleiman was elected delegate to the Democratic National Convention on the Biden slate in the June 4 primary; he is obligated to vote for Biden on the first ballot if the president is nominated.

“Growing up in Atlantic County, I learned that we don’t abandon our own. As a family, we stick together and tough it out,” Suleiman said.  “That’s why I’m reaffirming my support for President Biden.”

He wants the Democratic congressional delegation and county chairs to publicly state their support of the president.

“Let’s show the nation that New Jersey Democrats are united behind Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” he said.

“It’s hot. I think it’s roughly 94 degrees,” New Jersey Forest Fire Service Chief Bill Donnelly said Friday. “Humidity’s up so a lot of wear and tear on the firefighters.

“The fire is burning in a very rugged area of the Wharton State Forest. A lot of it is inaccessible to motorized vehicles and our fire equipment,” Tom Gerber, incident commander of the NJFFS said Friday.

The so-called Tea Time Hill Wildfire was started by fireworks on July 4th and detected by the U.S. Forest Service about 9am the next day.

“A fireworks device lighted inside the forest ignited the fire late Thursday, July 4,” the NJFFS said in a Facebook post.

No structures are currently threatened, the Forest Service said. The NJFFS had previously reported that a residence and hunting club were threatened and park police evacuated Batona Campground as a precaution. A few local roads and trails were also closed. No injuries or damaged structures had been reported as of Sunday.

“On average, 1,500 wildfires damage or destroy 7,000 acres of New Jersey’s forests each year,” the NJFFS said.

In 2023, wildfire burned more than 18,000 acres of forest in New Jersey. The NJFFS responded to more major fires than they had in more than 20 years.