Christine Whitman
Former New Jersey Gov. Christine Whitman is coming to New Mexico next week to help Republican gubernatorial candidate Janice Arnold-Jones raise money for her cash-strapped campaign.
The event with the Republican Whitman will be held April 15 from 7-9 p.m. at Sandia Resort and Casino near Albuquerque. The cost is $75 in advance or $100 at the door, or $250 to attend both that event and a private reception with Whitman held at a home in Albuquerque.
It will take a lot of cash for Arnold-Jones to stay competitive in the June 1 primary race.
She finished third at the GOP preprimary nominating convention last month, failing to reach the 20 percent threshold that guaranteed her an automatic spot on the primary ballot. Arnold-Jones has since collected the necessary signatures to stay in the race. She’s also announced three legislative endorsements (here and here) in an attempt to show that her campaign has momentum.
But she hasn’t raised much money. According to Arnold-Jones’ campaign Web site, she has raised $3,550 since the preprimary. That’s less than one of her opponents, Pete Domenici Jr., has raised since he finished last at the GOP preprimary convention.
Arnold-Jones voluntarily releases contribution information in real time on her Web site.
Her largest fundraiser to date – an event held in late February in New Jersey – netted her only $15,950 in contributions from the New Jersey/New York area, according to her Web site.
In total, Arnold-Jones has raised almost $114,000 since July for her gubernatorial run. All of Arnold-Jones’ primary opponents have raised (or contributed to themselves) more than that. Here’s a breakdown of what we know:
• Domenici had raised $303,057.77 as of Friday, the last time he voluntarily released fundraising information.
• As of Jan. 15 – the last time Susana Martinez voluntarily released fundraising information – she had raised almost $284,000.
• Doug Turner reported in October – the last time a finance report was required from the candidates – that he had raised just under $342,000, with the bulk of it – about $243,500 – coming in the form of personal loans from Turner to his campaign.
• Allen Weh, who like Turner has refused to release contribution information more often than the law requires, last reported in October that he had raised a whopping $560,000, with almost half of it coming in the form of a personal loan.
The point: The Arnold-Jones campaign has said it has gained momentum since the preprimary. With less than eight weeks until the primary, she needs some impressive fundraising numbers to back up that claim.
Wondering what connection Arnold-Jones has to New Jersey? Her campaign manager, Steve Kush, was political director for current N.J. Gov. Chris Christie’s campaign.