Lance and Whitman have the same fundraising firm, and no candidates feel like disclosing fundraising details

In the crowded field of Republican primary candidates in the seventh congressional district, one fundraising firm is working for two contenders.

TurnKey Productions is raising money for two of the top GOP candidates to replace Mike Fergsuon.. In one corner is T. Robin Visconi, who’s working for State Sen. Leonard Lance. Her partner at TurnKey, Maria Chappa, is signed on with Kate Whitman.

“There’s a firewall between them. Obviously they’re not talking about the campaigns with one another,” said Whitman campaign manager Anthony Attanassio.

But that’s not all. Lance and another candidate, P. Kelly Hatfield, share the same treasurer – Ron Gravino.

“We’re aware of the other clients and we’re happy and honored to have such qualified professionals on board with us,” said Lance campaign manager Amanda Woloshen. (Much of Team Lance had worked on outgoing Rep. Mike Ferguson’s previous campaigns).

In the contest where the two partners of TurnKey productions try to outdo each other, the big mystery is just how much money has been raised.

But Lance, who had a meeting to discuss fundraising strategy just this morning, isn’t prepared to give even a hint of his fundraising totals. Anxious observers will have to wait until the quarter is up to see the numbers.

“Fundraising is going very well and we will disclose at the end of March. We’re very pleased with the way it’s going,” he said.

Lance emphasized that not revealing his totals is consistent with the way he’s always campaigned. He’s been cautious about discussing preliminary results for anything – even refusing to predict his win in his native Hunterdon County’s Republican convention, although it seemed all but destined.

Kate Whitman’s campaign won’t disclose any exact numbers. Campaign manager Anthony Attanasio said that they have raised “well over $250,000” since the campaign began (that’s including the $200,000 that Whitman raised in the few weeks leading up to the end of the first fundraising quarter).

Attanasio is confident, however, that the campaign will remain at the top of the fundraising heap.

“We’re doing extremely well, we feel confident we’re going to have the most money of any challengers in the race,” he said.

Former Summit Councilwoman P. Kelly Hatfield has seen her stock rise after winning the convention in Union County – the biggest single portion of the district. But she’ll only reveal that she’s raised an amount “in the six figures.”

Hatfield hinted that she’s not expecting to raise as much as Lance and Whitman in the primary, but that it will be enough to keep stay competitive.

“You don’t win the election just on the money, you really win it on the issues, and the message and the ground game.”

It remains to be seen how strong Hatfield’s ground game will be outside of her native Union County. She only received one vote from the Middlesex County Republican Organization’s screening committee earlier this week, while Lance and Whitman battled it out for first and second place.

“I’m not even going to comment on that – just remember that’s only 17 people voting,” she said.

Meanwhile, Scotch Plains Marty Marks, who’s also from Union County, says that after he’s through with five fundraising events planned for this month, he expects to nearly double his total from last quarter, which was about $100,000 (including $75,000 of his own money). That would give a bit under $200,000 in total, with no more of his own money thrown in.

Marks is trying to find a niche as the pro-life candidate of the race, which could be complicated if Warren Township Mayor Victor Sordillo, who’s also staunchly pro-life, stays in the race as well.

Sordillo, however, will only keep running if he gets the nod from the Somerset County committee, who will hold their convention in April. He’s not sure how much money he’s raised – putting it at somewhere between $10,000 and $25,000 – and downplays the importance of finances in the race. He’s even capped the amount of money he’ll raise before the Somerset County convention at $25,000, and has pledged to raise no more than $150,000 in the primary if he wins the county line.

“I haven’t even called my treasurer in over a week because the raising of money isn’t an issue with me,” he said. “I want people to vote for me because of my accomplishments and experience. I’m not buying the election.”

Sordillo added that he could easily loan his campaign $500,000, but won’t.

“To me the game isn’t going to be played on the field of banking and cash,” he said.

Former Assistant Prosecutor Tom Roughneen, however, feels differently than Sordillo. He won’t divulge exactly how much cash his campaign has right now, but he’s confident that they’ll reach their goal of $200,000 by the end of the month.

“That’s what they want to see to make a candidate credible, so that’s what we’re doing,” he said.

Other candidates who are running but could not be reached for comment include Bridgewater Councilman Michael Hsing; former Hillsborough committeeman Chris Venis; and Seton Hall business professor A.D. Amar.