The vast majority of campaign contributions in the New Jersey governor’s race are coming from a small slice of the Garden State as U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill and Jack Ciattarelli zigzag the state less than a week ahead of the election…
Sherrill has had a particularly narrow geographic base of financial support, with just 26 zip codes accounting for half of all her contributions. Ciattarelli, by contrast, has pulled half of his funds from 59 zip codes. Many of these zip codes, for both candidates, were in North Jersey.
Julia Sass Rubin, the director of Rutgers University’s public policy program, said the trend is consistent with donations to nonpolitical nonprofits: fewer people making larger donations.
“This reflects growing economic inequality and the fact that a smaller number of residents have the resources to donate larger amounts,” she said…
Both candidates have disproportionately relied on contributions from the state’s wealthiest zip codes, though Sherrill has done so to a greater degree. Sherrill has raised about 86% of her money from the wealthiest half of zip codes (those with median household incomes above $109,000). Ciattarelli has raised about 74% of his contributions from such zip codes, which collectively account for about 44% of the state’s population.
“The Democratic Party has increasingly become the party of the higher-educated, and more education is strongly correlated with greater wealth and ability to donate to political campaigns,” Sass Rubin said.
Sass Rubin pointed out that due to the state’s wealth and racial segregation, wealthier people of color living in majority white zip codes could also be making these donations.