NJ: Democrats in two borderline competitive legislative districts have gobs of cash saved up
After a hugely successful 2021 cycle, New Jersey Republicans have some lofty hopes for 2023’s legislative elections. With all 120 legislative seats up, the party intends to make a push into Democratic-leaning districts that haven’t recently hosted highly competitive races, giving them a very narrow path to a majority.
But Democratic incumbents in two such key districts, the 14th in Central Jersey and the 38th in Bergen County, have built up major warchests ahead of this year’s election that they could deploy if Republicans do indeed make a serious play for their seats.
In the 14th district, State Sen. Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro) had $219,064 on-hand as of the end of 2022, while her running mate, Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton), had a colossal $567,320. The district’s third incumbent, Assemblyman Dan Benson (D-Hamilton), is running for Mercer County Executive, leaving an open seat for Democrats to defend.
Republicans have landed on their likely Senate candidate, Patricia Johnson, and are still hashing out their Assembly slate. Johnson launched her candidacy earlier this month, so she hasn’t filed any fundraising reports yet, but she and her running mates will be hard-pressed to catch up with their Democratic opponents.
Democratic incumbents in the 38th district have nearly as much as their 14th district counterparts, though State Sen. Joe Lagana (D-Paramus) seemingly hasn’t filed his 4th quarter report, so it’s not exactly clear where his fundraising currently stands.
https://newjerseyglobe.com/legislature/democrats-in-two-borderline-competitive-legislative-districts-have-gobs-of-cash-saved-up/