Congressional candidate coffers

The unexpected retirement of Republican Reps. Jim Saxton and Mike Ferguson has opened up a wide field of potential congressional candidates, many of whom have spent the last month in fundraising overdrive mode and have already gotten donors to cough up some impressive amounts of cash.

Congressional District 7

In the seventh congressional district, Republicans are lining up to challenge Democrat Linda Stender, who raised close to $2 million last year only to lose to Ferguson by one point. This time, unlike last, she has the full support of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, whose Chairman, Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, came to the state in November to endorse and raise money for her and her third district counterpart John Adler.

Stender would not say how much she raised in 2007, but a source close to her said that the campaign has approximately $500,000 in the bank.

"I raised $2 million last time, and I'm going to raise the money that I need to be competitive in this race," she said. "I think that the issues are still going to be about being an agent for change in the district -that's really what is important and what's the priority."

Thirty-year-old former gubernatorial daughter Kate Whitman announced her bid for the seventh congressional district Republican nomination barely a month ago, but her fledgling congressional campaign already has $190,000 in the bank. By the time the last checks are cashed and her quarterly papers are filed, she expects to have raised almost $200,000 for 2007.

Whitman said that she's working hard to overcome the perception that her name is the only thing that qualifies her for the seat.

"People hear Whitman and think I'm entitled to this and that's not the case. The only way to prove to people is to work really hard and I'm going to knock on as many of the county committee men and women's doors as I can," said Whitman who gave herself a maximum contribution but is not self-funding her campaign.

State Sen. Leonard Lance, who's arguably the frontrunner to win the Republican nomination, would not give an estimate of how much he's raised, but noted that he's hired prominent fundraiser T. Robin Visconi, who runs the firm TurnKey Productions. Visconi works as a fundraiser for the Republican State Committee and the New Jersey Senate Republican Majority. He's also hired Larry Weitzner, a long-time political advisor to Mike Ferguson, as his campaign manager.

Lance has not officially declared his candidacy or filed with the Federal Election Commission, but expects to later this month.

"We're making fundraising calls and it's very positive," he said.

Scotch Plains Mayor Marty Marks presents himself as a more conservative alternative to Whitman and Lance, and has already sought to demonstrate his earnestness by putting $75,000 of his own money into his campaign. His fundraising total for 2007 is approximately $94,000.

"It's been about five weeks of fundraising and I stoked it with some of my own money, which shows a seriousness to this campaign," he said. "But just initially reaching out to people - friends, family - they have shown confidence in me... So we're pretty pleased about that."

Former Summit Council President Kelly Hatfield, who announced her candidacy last month, is just starting to make the rounds. She wouldn't reveal how much - if anything - she's raised so far, but was optimistic about her fundraising abilities.

Hatfield said that she has experience fundraising and has a strong base across Union County.

"I don't think we really know exactly how much it's going to cost to win the primary, but I can say that I am prepared to raise the funds that will be necessary," she said. "I am sure I will be able to raise the couple million that's necessary - I will raise as much if not more than Linda Stender."

Two potential nomination seekers from Somerset County have hinged their candidacies on whether Assemblyman Peter Biondi decides to make a run for it: Warren Township Mayor Victor Sordillo and former Hillsborough Deputy Mayor Chris Venis. Neither has started fundraising, since if Biondi decides to run, they won't.

Venis, 42, a political consultant and lobbyist who worked extensively with former Rep. Bob Franks and former Acting Gov. Donald DiFrancesco, declared his candidacy shortly after Ferguson decided to retire. But that was before he knew Biondi, who he describes as a "second father," was considering running.

Venis said that he would wait another week for Biondi to make a decision, after which he'll declare his candidacy.

"I'm going to probably file within the next five days and I plan to start fundraising starting next week. So it's time to go," said Venis, who said he expects to be able to net between $100,000 and $250,000 during his first month and a half of fundraising.

Sordillo, a Vice President at the Chubb Group, said that he's highly likely to run if Biondi decides not to, and that raising money won't be an issue. He expects to be able to easily take in $250,000 - more than enough, he said, to win a primary campaign. And while he may put some of his own money into a general election campaign, he said that he won't need to spend the kind of money that many observers expect to see thrown at the race.

"I don't expect the money to be a problem. Others say you need $3 million - I think that's ridiculous... I thought that, if ever, the year the Democrats would take the congressional seat was 2006.... I don't think they can come back. I don't think Linda Stender can win this year."

Summit High School science teacher Tim Gallic has expressed interest in running for the seat as well. He could not be reached for comment.

Congressional District 3

There are far fewer potential candidates in this district than up north, and most were not forthcoming about how much money they raised so far.

The campaign for John Adler, the only current Democratic candidate, would not reveal how much he put in his campaign coffers last year. .

"We're confident we're going to have a good quarter, but we're still counting the money," said campaign manager Raiyan Syed.

Lockheed Martin Vice President Chris Myers, the Deputy Mayor of Medford, could not be reached for comment. He is expected to officially announce his candidacy at a press conference next Thursday.

As a wealthy executive and as Saxton's unofficial favorite, Myers will likely be able to pull in some serious money. His advisor, Chris Russell, would not go into specifics about how much he raised.

"As expected, Chris Myers is receiving a tremendous response from his vast network of friends and colleagues in New Jersey and across the country and we anticipate an extremely successful first quarters in terms of cash-on-hand and commitments," said Russell.

But Myers's likely primary opponent from neighboring Ocean County, Freeholder John Kelly, spent the last days of 2007 aggressively raising money, and has hired a heavy hitter as his finance chairman - Lawrence Bathgate II, a former finance chair of the Republican National Committee with experience in many New Jersey campaigns and roots in the administration of Tom Kean, Sr

Kelly has also taken on outgoing state Sen. Leonard Connors as his campaign managers.

Kelly said that he's got $50,000 in the bank and about $150,000 in commitments from supporters - and that's before he's had a single fundraising event.

Kelly said that he expects to raise between $400,000 and $600,000 for his primary campaign, and sought to dispel the notion - raised in part by GOP State Chairman Tom Wilson - that one of the Republican candidates would likely drop out of the race before the primary in June.

"Where Tom and I disagree is I think there will be a primary because each candidate will raise the dollars," he said. "The tone of my campaign will be contrasting myself to Adler and the issues that are important: immigration, free trade, the support for the military's mission."