The Record: Challenger edges incumbent in campaign fund-raising

October 24th, 2008

Friday, October 24, 2008
BY HERB JACKSON
WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT

Democratic challenger Dennis Shulman edged incumbent Rep. Scott Garrett in fund-raising in the first two weeks of October, new campaign finance reports show.

Shulman’s total receipts were just over $80,000 from Oct. 1 through Oct. 15, while Garrett’s were slightly less than $75,000.

Garrett had about $411,000, and Shulman $127,000, for the final weeks of what has become an increasingly hard-hit campaign.

No other challenger in New Jersey out-raised an incumbent in reports that had to be filed to the Federal Election Commission by midnight Thursday.

In other New Jersey races:

— Rep. Steve Rothman, D-Fair Lawn, had receipts of $56,000 and more than $1.8 million on hand Oct. 15, while Republican challenger Vince Micco of Rutherford took in $9,100 and had $10,000 in his campaign account.

From Oct. 15 through Election Day, candidates must file a notice within 48 hours of receiving additional contributions, and Rothman filed such a notice Thursday showing that on Wednesday alone, he took in an additional $21,400.

Rothman serves on the House Appropriations Committee, and got $7,600 Wednesday from employees and the political action committee of the lobbying firm Winning Strategies Washington, which specializes in securing appropriations for its clients, including several New Jersey local government agencies and public colleges.

— Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-Paterson, reported $88,000 in receipts and $1.2 million on hand Oct. 15, to Republican challenger Roland Straten’s $8,175 in receipts and $43,000 on hand.

Pascrell also filed a notice Wednesday showing an additional $22,600 received, including checks from these political action committees: American Bankers Association, $2,000; Cablevision Systems Corp. PAC, $2,000; Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc. PAC, $2,000; National Postal Mail Handlers Union, $1,500; and Pfizer PAC, $1000.

— Reports covering the Oct. 1 to 15 period were not immediately available for Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg and Republican challenger Dick Zimmer because Senate candidates mail their reports in while House members file electronically.

But Lautenberg has several affiliated PACs that did file electronically, and one of them, New Jersey Senate 2008, reported a $153,100 haul all on one day last week. That total included a $27,000 check from Henry Taub, a co-founder with Lautenberg of the giant payroll processing company ADP. Two other members of the Taub family gave an additional $15,000 combined.

Lautenberg also serves on the appropriations committee, and his PAC collected $5,000 each from Daniel Krivit and Sandra Stephenson-Krivit, who run a lobbying firm that represents several Hudson County towns that seek federal earmark funding.

Under FEC rules, Lautenberg cannot use more than $2,300 per contributor for his own campaign against Zimmer, but he can contribute money raised by his PAC to other campaigns. His report shows that $113,000 of the money raised by New Jersey Senate 2008 was given to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is working to build a Democratic majority in the Senate.

E-mail: jackson@northjersey.com

Democratic challenger Dennis Shulman edged incumbent Rep. Scott Garrett in fund-raising in the first two weeks of October, new campaign finance reports show.

Shulman’s total receipts were just over $80,000 from Oct. 1 through Oct. 15, while Garrett’s were slightly less than $75,000.

Garrett had about $411,000, and Shulman $127,000, for the final weeks of what has become an increasingly hard-hit campaign.

No other challenger in New Jersey out-raised an incumbent in reports that had to be filed to the Federal Election Commission by midnight Thursday.

In other New Jersey races:

— Rep. Steve Rothman, D-Fair Lawn, had receipts of $56,000 and more than $1.8 million on hand Oct. 15, while Republican challenger Vince Micco of Rutherford took in $9,100 and had $10,000 in his campaign account.

From Oct. 15 through Election Day, candidates must file a notice within 48 hours of receiving additional contributions, and Rothman filed such a notice Thursday showing that on Wednesday alone, he took in an additional $21,400.

Rothman serves on the House Appropriations Committee, and got $7,600 Wednesday from employees and the political action committee of the lobbying firm Winning Strategies Washington, which specializes in securing appropriations for its clients, including several New Jersey local government agencies and public colleges.

— Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-Paterson, reported $88,000 in receipts and $1.2 million on hand Oct. 15, to Republican challenger Roland Straten’s $8,175 in receipts and $43,000 on hand.

Pascrell also filed a notice Wednesday showing an additional $22,600 received, including checks from these political action committees: American Bankers Association, $2,000; Cablevision Systems Corp. PAC, $2,000; Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc. PAC, $2,000; National Postal Mail Handlers Union, $1,500; and Pfizer PAC, $1000.

— Reports covering the Oct. 1 to 15 period were not immediately available for Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg and Republican challenger Dick Zimmer because Senate candidates mail their reports in while House members file electronically.

But Lautenberg has several affiliated PACs that did file electronically, and one of them, New Jersey Senate 2008, reported a $153,100 haul all on one day last week. That total included a $27,000 check from Henry Taub, a co-founder with Lautenberg of the giant payroll processing company ADP. Two other members of the Taub family gave an additional $15,000 combined.

Lautenberg also serves on the appropriations committee, and his PAC collected $5,000 each from Daniel Krivit and Sandra Stephenson-Krivit, who run a lobbying firm that represents several Hudson County towns that seek federal earmark funding.

Under FEC rules, Lautenberg cannot use more than $2,300 per contributor for his own campaign against Zimmer, but he can contribute money raised by his PAC to other campaigns. His report shows that $113,000 of the money raised by New Jersey Senate 2008 was given to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is working to build a Democratic majority in the Senate.

http://www.northjersey.com/politics/Challenger_edges_incumbent_in_campaign_fund-raising_.html

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