Since announcing in August, congressional candidate John J. Flora (NJ-10) made a pledge that he would meet more constituents than dollars raised. With seventeen municipalities to visit, canvassing efforts for the campaign began seven months ahead of the scheduled June 2nd Primary.

“How can candidates self-identify as ‘progressive’ if they are beholden to PACS and hardly get out to meet voters?” asked Flora.

The last primary election on 6/4/19 drew less than 8% of all entitled voters from the three counties comprising NJ-10 (Essex, Hudson, Union). Given that the congressional district has a Cook PVI score of D+36, winning in the primary is the bigger feat for a Democratic candidate.

“This primary election in 2020 is wide open for the taking,” stated Flora, “Because voters in NJ-10 remain disenfranchised and the incumbent has repeatedly failed to engage them, we can win by contacting new pockets of voters who either don’t know about the primary or could care less about voting in one.”

Up to this point in the current cycle, over 99% of the donations to the campaign committee Friends of John Flora qualify as small individual contributions. Ninety-eight percent of Donald Payne Jr’s war chest, on the other hand, is attributable to PACS and large donations. These are the only two candidates who have reported any fundraising totals up to the third quarter deadline of September 30th.

“Politics should be about representing the electorate and their interests,” closed Flora, “It should not be about taking money from special interest groups or affluent individuals. I refuse to be bought or sold. My only motivation for running is to serve my constituents and bring overdue change to our district.”

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