Adam Hamawy holds fundraising lead in race to succeed Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman

Physician Adam Hamawy is leading fundraising in the race to succeed Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman in the 12th Congressional District’s House race.

Hamawy, a Democrat, raised just under $1.1 million throughout the cycle, according to campaign reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. That put him far ahead of any of the other 11 Democrats running in the district.

“The fundraising, I think, is what makes him so credible as a challenger in the 12th,” said Dan Cassino, director of Fairleigh Dickinson University’s poll. “I don’t think he’d be the top of anyone’s list if it were not for just the enormous amounts of money he’s able to bring in and the outside support he’s getting.”

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American Priorities, a pro-Palestinian PAC, has reported putting more than $1.5 million behind Hamawy’s congressional bid.

Watson Coleman’s announcement last year that she would retire from Congress after six terms led to a parade of Democrats lining up in hopes of succeeding her. The 12th District, which includes a collection of towns in Mercer, Middlesex, Somerset, and Union counties, is considered a safe one for Democrats, with the Democratic primary winner expected to win handily in November.

East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen also outstripped most of the other candidates, bringing in $709,545 throughout the cycle.

Progressive activist Sue Altman ($499,067), Princeton professor Sam Wang ($465,124), Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp ($438,668), and attorney Squire Servance ($390,651) also posted strong fundraising totals.

“It really was, I think, surprising to us how many candidates were able to perform fundraising at that level,” said Micah Rasmussen, director of Rider University’s Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics.

Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D-Mercer) raised $284,097. Former Department of Energy staffer Jay Vaingankar brought in $285,299, and Somerset County Commissioner Shanel Robinson raised $140,250.

Other candidates, like Sujit Singh ($99,065) and Matt Adams ($85,447), raised less.

“We know that the way that campaign finance works is you bet on a winner, and the reason you bet on a winner is those are the people that you perceive are going to be in office,” Rasmussen said. “You don’t bet on somebody you don’t think is going to be in office.”

Some of those candidates’ fundraising was bolstered by personal loans they made to their campaigns. In some cases, those loans were a majority of their fundraising, even overwhelmingly.

Servance loaned his campaign $250,000 — more than half of his total fundraising — while Cohen loaned his $100,000, and Wang gave his campaign $110,000. Singh loaned his campaign $90,000, meaning more than 90% of his funding has come from his own pocket.

“If you don’t have the fundraising, you loan the money to yourself, and that’s a bad sign. It means the big donors aren’t cutting you checks — they’re not interested in funding your campaign,” said Cassino.

Low fundraising figures and personal loans can also signal to low-dollar donors that they should stay away, Cassino said.

The candidates have spent heavily on the primary, and only Hamawy (310,697), Cohen ($182,553), Wang ($170,889), and Altman ($200,369) had more than $100,000 left in their reserves.

At $915, Dixon had by far the smallest amount banked. Another candidate, Kyle Little, filed no periodic fundraising reports with the FEC.

Gregg Mele, the only Republican to file in the district, raised $62,320, more than two-thirds of which ($45,456) came from a loan from his own pocket. He had $5,182 left on hand on May 13.