Newark Mayor Cory Booker, the front-runner for New Jersey’s open Senate seat, raised $4.6 million in the past three months for his campaign, solidifying his reputation as prolific fund-raiser.
Booker (right) has pulled in $6.5 million so far this year for the crowded August Democratic primary to replace the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg.
He will face Reps. Frank Pallone and Rush Holt and state Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver. Polls have put him with a double-digit lead over all three.
Although Booker has been criticized for spending a lot of time out of state, it seems to have paid off: 70 percent of his campaign contributions came from outside New Jersey. His campaign said 6,000 of his 7,000 latest contributors were first-timers.
None of the other Democratic candidates have released their second-quarter fund-raising figures, due Monday.
Pallone, who had $3.7 million in his House campaign coffers, was in the best financial shape to compete.
Meanwhile, Oliver joined Twitter yesterday. Her first tweet took a swipe at the state’s all-male congressional makeup. “Let’s make the Senate look a little more like NJ!” it read.