Top NJ Hillary fundraiser joins Obama campaign

by: Scott Weingart

Mon Jul 07, 2008 at 08:51:42 PM EDT

This is great news for Barack Obama, and here's why:

Back in February, when Obama lost the New Jersey Presidential primary to Hillary Clinton in February, he held only a narrow lead in general election heats against John McCain. But since March, Obama has opened up a solid lead in New Jersey, and ten staffers and 95 Obama fellows are quietly organizing the state ahead of the fall campaign.

Still, at least in New Jersey, higher poll numbers haven't translated to stronger fundraising for Obama. Even though he outraised Senator Clinton $149 million to $88 million overall since Super Tuesday, Clinton raised $146,000 more than Obama in New Jersey in the same four month period. In fact, New Jersey was one of Hillary Clinton's strongest fundraising states during the primary--by one measure even stronger than her home state of New York:

State	Clinton	Obama	Ratio	MOV*
Arkansas	$1,651,202	$241,324	6.84:1	43.8%
West Virginia	$437,149	$209,687	2.08:1	35.6%
Puerto Rico	$356,191	$211,538	1.68:1	36.8%
New Jersey	$7,524,587	$5,129,865	1.47:1	9.8%
New York	$33,048,552	$22,862,555	1.45:1	17.1%
Oklahoma	$945,016	$730,005	1.29:1	23.6%

(*primary margin of victory in each state for Hillary Clinton.)

At least on the fundraising front, the Obama campaign still has some work to do in New Jersey. Michael Kempner can do a lot of that work.