Are Small Donors the Key to Winning 2019? Flora Leading the Pack in NJ-10

With Iowa caucuses about to begin, political pundits around the nation are focused on the viability of federal campaigns. One key factor used to determine how strong a campaign is at any given moment is fundraising. To date, Senator Bernie Sanders is leading the pack when it comes to both the number of small donors and total amount of money raised.

New Jersey’s 10^th Congressional District has been taking on a similar tenor. Democratic primary challenger John Flora recently released a statement about local fundraising in his race. “Part of the reason why our campaign was one of the first to publicly endorse Bernie Sanders was because of his people-powered approach to fundraising. It tells voters he is beholden only to them, not PACs or big money. We are sticking to the same message, and there is no doubt that it is working. We are decidedly winning this cycle when it comes to small donors.”

Year-end FEC reports were due for all federal candidates last week. It shows that John Flora and the incumbent, Donald Payne Jr., have raised nearly identical amounts of small donor money. But a closer look reveals that Flora’s fundraising committee is nearly doubling the pace of his opponent. Whereas Payne Jr. has been fundraising since January, Flora announced his candidacy in late June.

“I am astonished by the number of people who have told us we can’t win without loads of money,” said Flora’s Campaign Manager Jill Pitman. “We rather focus on meeting the people that John may one day represent, not reaching into their pockets for their money. Time should be spent on listening to the people not throwing parties and asking money from donors.” Pitman continued that the only reason the busy Teamster and mother of four chose this position on Team Flora was because of this principle. “This is not politics as usual. This is not your average campaign. We are attempting to show that money in politics is corrupt and we are proud of our small donors. Victory can happen. We want to turn NJ politics on its head.”

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