The Cost of Running for Mayor in Bloomfield, NJ (Part 1)

What will my costs be in the age of no-holds-barred political campaign donating and spending?

How much is too much could be called a subjective value. Political campaign spending in the recent Democratic Municipal elections in Bloomfield can be measured, and these numbers can be evaluated to a certain degree objectively. That is what I’ll try to do using my current campaign running for Bloomfield Mayor as an Independent in the November 4th election.

What we have noticed in the last year is that when these campaigns have competition, the difference between the preferred Essex County candidate and the “independent thinker” candidate—in the 2024 Primary, we had several “Democrats for Change” run for Town Council—can be a wide ocean of money. Does this effect the results? Yes, but it is not the final decider. There is more to this than money, including things such as physical support in the form of a campaign headquarters and paid canvassers which come as a package with the full county slate of candidates. Plenty of “perks” are available to the favored Dem candidate.

At the top of the perks, the most important to understand is the huge determining factor, the “finger on the scale” factor—the support of top Essex County Democrats including County Executive Chair Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. and Dem Chair LeRoy Jones, who was also recently reelected as the Statewide Dem Chair here in New Jersey. This support from the top of the New Jersey Democrat Party cannot be measured. This is what is called “boss power,” if you may. Our Bloomfield preferred Dems get County and State support from the top tier of Essex and New Jersey.

This boss power went on display recently in the Governor’s race in the Primary with Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop’s run as well as the early history, spring 2024, of then Representative Andy Kim’s run for the US Senate. There is no denying the power of machine politics in this state, but my race is on one of the lowest rungs of the power ladder, so I can stick to the very basic necessities of finance for my ongoing experiment of objectively measuring the money factor in campaigning for Mayor of Bloomfield.

I can measure my monetary costs, and compare them with the final totals, not out yet of course. This will remain to be seen.
This is a story in progress. Where am I right now?

I have no contributions or expenses for the Primary, because I did not run in it. (My decision to run came about late in the campaign season.)
I have no paid employees. My time and volunteer’s time are “free.”
I purchased a new laptop and B&W printer.
I am lucky to have friends well-versed in the financial aspects and managing aspects of a campaign who advise me, and I come personally well-equipped as an organizer.
Creating this venture has been like starting a small business needing a bank account, website and accompanying commercial grade email.
I am a writer.
I have social media.

My first big expense for my campaign this November will be lawn signs.

New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) documents for the 2024 Mayoral Primary—contribution summary

In comparison, using contribution summary, here are snapshots of ELEC (New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission) documents. For the 2024 Primary, candidate Mundell ran against then “1st Interim” Mayor, Ted Gamble. This “interim” business was necessitated by the ascendance of former Mayor Venezia to our State Assembly in January of 2024.

The competition between Jenny Mundell and Ted Gamble shows side-by-side a large monetary difference. Ted Gamble’s monetary contribution summary displays a total of $22,938 for the 2024 primary race.

The comparison for Jenny Mundell’s race is $142,924.
Ted Gamble ran with about 16% of the funds Mundell’s campaign required* (see next snap shot illustration) and he garnered 41% of the vote. Money is not everything, but it is a big thing on so many levels.

*Mundell’s expenses for this primary race
The Mundell for Mayor campaign expended $151,644 which is $8,720 more than collected donations.

New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) documents for the 2024 Mayoral General—contribution summary

In the 2024 November election, candidate Mundell ran against a Republican. She received $69,451 in contributions, and she ultimately won.

Below here is a list of some of the expenses candidate Mundell required in the 2024 November election to defeat the Republican Candidate.

This snap shot illustration above displays in ascending order, some of the expenses necessary for the Mundell Mayoral Campaign.

The contributions for the 2025 primary are displayed below.

In the 2025 primary, Mayoral Candidate Mundell ran unopposed. She ran with a slate of four Town Council Candidates. Three of the four ultimately won their seats, but will not run totally unopposed in November. “Dem 4 Change” candidate Tracy Toler-Phillips won and will run on the Dem ticket. So far she is not embraced by the Essex County Dems, and it remains to be seen what our ballots will look like, but Toler-Phillips is a Dem and should appear prominently as such.

Additionally, and similarly to my candidacy running as an independent, Jonathan Mejia has entered the General for Council-at-Large. There are no Republican candidates running in the November election for either Mayor or Council-at-large.
Four candidates—three Democrats and one independent—will be running for three seats.

The 2025 General

In the 2025 General (in progress as of this date writing August 2025) it remains to be seen what I will collect and report as well as what Candidate Mundell will collect and report.

Finally, and in summary, for the last 3 election cycles, Candidate Mundell has collected over $350,000 in contributions and has done a fine job spending these funds.

I pretty much can guarantee that I will collect much less than that, and have I mentioned yet, I need to order lawn signs shortly.

This article is the 1st in a short series on the cost of running for mayor in Bloomfield New Jersey in the age of no-holds-barred political donating and spending.