Fulop super PAC has humungous $9 million banked – New Jersey Globe

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.