Van Drew enjoys a Trump-fueled cash surge

PHILADELPHIA — New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew will start the year with $1.7 million in his war chest, driven by a surge of donations from conservative grassroots donors.

Van Drew, who has been in the national spotlight since he voted against President Donald Trump’s impeachment, switched parties, and pledged his “undying support” to Trump, received fierce criticism from Democrats. Now, his campaign filings show he is starting to shed their financial support and replace it with small-dollar Republican donations.

“This is all the Trump phenomenon,” said Patrick Murray, director of polling at Monmouth University.

“Right now, his initial surge is based on name recognition from being the party-switcher.”

Since October, Van Drew has brought in $300,000 in individual contributions. Nearly half — or around $145,000 — came from conservative donors using WinRed, a Republican fundraising platform that processes online donations. Only 5% of WinRed donations came from New Jersey.

“Any time Donald Trump says, ‘Support this person,’ money flows in,” Murray said. “Is that a momentary blip is my big question.”

Van Drew took in $423,000 in the last quarter of 2019, a drop from his $529,000 haul in the previous quarter. This was driven primarily by a dip in large-dollar donations — down from $353,000 to $157,000 — and made up for with a surge in small-dollar contributions, which rose from $21,000 to $145,000. Donations from PACs dropped from $151,000 to $75,000.

Experts say that isn’t a surprise. Trump’s endorsement will naturally boost Van Drew’s small-dollar donations from across the country. Meanwhile, many of his established largedollar donors — who are Democrats — will stop donating to him.

Trump’s endorsement alone won’t be enough to court money from largedollar Republican donors and PACs, however. Experts note that Van Drew will need to put in the work.

Van Drew “hasn’t gone out there and aligned himself with the big money on the Republican side,” Murray said. “And those, you either have to ask directly for their money, or hope you’re part of a group of members of Congress these PACs will give to.”