Booker vs Bell: Money is not Everything

   Maybe money can talk. Right now in the New Jersey Senate race Cory Booker has raised a whopping $16,171,449, spent $12,682,311 and has on hand $3,489,139 which was last reported on June 30, 2014 (OpenSecrets). Where as his main competitor Jeff Bell has raised only $192,815. (OpenSecrets) If elections were just about which candidate has the most money then obviously Booker would be the champion by default., but its not it sill comes down to the voter. In todays elections it is more likely for the candidate with the most money to will go on to win the election. In tis New Jersey election that just might be the case, but Republican Jeff Bell is aware of the finical gap between him and his opponent and is using it to his advantage. Bell focusing his campaign around one issue: bringing back the Gold Standard. "He says he does not have enough campaign money to focus on additional issues, so he is devoting his campaign to one that is especially important to him." (Mulshine) In the end, Booker is still favored to prevail, but I'm not so sure Jeff Bell is not ready to just roll over; he is ready to fight.

    Bell knows that he doesn't have the money to run on multiple issues like Booker can, so he went with the one he knows best, The Gold Standard. Bell hasn't ran for office in over 30 years in New Jersey, and has lived out of state for sometime now. People of New Jersey might think this is a little odd that Bell has been gone for so long and now decides to run again. Also the fact that he is pushing to bring back the Gold Standard, which all it does is make the dollar backed by gold, rather than nothing like it currently stands. Even more interesting is that despite the finical gap between the two Bell is within seven points of Cory Booker, who was deemed "Unbeatable" (Board) Even though Bell has such minimal money compared to Booker, Bell is still finding away to fight.

   This election is truing out to be a classic David vs. Goliath story. Everyone is expecting the big guy (Booker) to win the race, but out of no where came the little guy (Bell) who was willing to stand up to the big guy and take him out. Right now this story is still being written between Booker and Bell, but has the potential to have very similar outcomes. For example Book is the incumbent who is loved by the people of New Jersey and feels that he is untouchable, and then you have Bell who although has been in New Jersey before, is kind of the new guy looking to make his mark. Lately more and people have been switching over to Bell's; not necessarily because of his campaign issues, but people seem to be loosing trust in Booker. Last year in 2013, Republican nominee Steve Lonegan filed a lawsuit against Cory Booker due to the reason that Booker failed to release his list of expenses and where the money was going that he was spending so fast. people aren't exactly sure what Booker is doing with the money he raises and who his contributors are.  Booker went to multiple organizations to speak and was giving a reasonable sum of money in return. While he donated some to charities he would also pocket it."He also pocketed big fees from eight charities, including $28,000 for addressing the Madison Square Boys and Girls Clubs in New York and $24,500 for addressing a charitable group in Houston called CitySquare."(Mulshine) Once elected into office Booker spent 6.7 million in federal and state funds on the groups.

   One reason Bell might be so close in the race right now is because the people of New Jersey have some form of trust in him. Where as for Booker he has been spending more and more time out of state focusing on organizations and groups outside of New Jersey. The people are noticing that and don't feel comfortable electing a man that is more caught up with other states and their affairs rather than just New Jersey. Bell doesn't have the money to be focusing on anything except the people of New Jersey.  Im not saying that Booker isn't a good candidate its just that currently he is getting to caught up in out of state affairs and how much money he can raise instead of focusing on only New Jersey like Bell has been. If Bell continues to stick by his lone issue he just mitt be able to pull off a victory and create the story book ending. Right now Booker is his own worst enemy and will only beat himself in this election if he were to go on and lose. It is starting to come down to the wire in this New Jersey Senate race and still both sides are making strong pushes in the last stretch sand should really make things interesting in the coming weeks prior to the election.


Mulshine, Paul. "Cory Booker and Big Bucks: Perfect Together." Nj.com. August 19, 2014. Accessed September 30, 2014. http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/08/cory_booker_and_big_bucks_perfect_together_

"Cory Booker." Opensecrets.org. Accessed September 29, 2014. http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00035267