The majority of campaign donations in the New Jersey governor’s race are coming from a limited number of areas within the state, as U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill and Jack Ciattarelli continue their campaigns less than a week before Election Day.
Sherrill’s financial backing is concentrated, with half of her contributions originating from just 26 zip codes. In comparison, Ciattarelli has received half of his funding from 59 zip codes. Many of these zip codes for both candidates are located in North Jersey.
Julia Sass Rubin, director of Rutgers University’s public policy program, noted that this pattern is not unique to political campaigns but also appears in donations to nonpolitical nonprofits, where fewer people are making larger contributions. “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 drawn heavily on donations from New Jersey’s wealthiest areas. Approximately 86% of Sherrill’s funds come from zip codes with median household incomes above $109,000—zip codes representing about 44% of the state’s population—while Ciattarelli has collected about 74% of his money from these affluent locations.
“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.
She also highlighted that due to patterns of wealth and racial segregation in New Jersey, some wealthy people of color residing in majority white neighborhoods may be among those making significant contributions.
