Suzanne Penna

The moment Medford Mayor Chris Myers stepped into the third district congressional primary, most insiders picked himas the favorite Republican to continue retiring Rep. Jim Saxton’s legacy.

Even after Ocean County Freeholder Jack Kelly entered the GOP race with the support of his large Republican county’s powerful organization support , Myers managed to maintain the mantle of frontrunner, winning the coveted line in his native Burlington County, along with neighboring Camden County -- which only has one town in the district, albeit a large one: Cherry Hill.

But fundraising totals reported by the Press of Atlantic City on Wednesday suggest a race much closer than initially expected.

According to the report, Myers has raised $334,786.77 and has $288,000 on hand. Meanwhile, Kelly has raised approximately $306,000, and has $281,000 on hand.

A team of unlikely Republican allies surfaced in Ocean and Burlington counties today as the U.S. Senate campaign of Murray Sabrin merged with the 3rd District Congressional candidacy of Justin Murphy of Burlington, and freeholder candidate Suzanne Penna of Ocean.

"We have been organizing for the better part of two days," said Sabrin campaign spokesman George Ajjan, who would not comment on the specifics of the Sabrin-Murphy-Penna alliance or on slates his candidate is pulling together in other districts.

The third district Republican congressional candidates are much more candid about their fundraising numbers than their northern counterparts in the seventh district. 

Leading the pack is Lockheed Martin executive Chris Myers, who has raised about $275,000, according to campaign manager Chris Russell. 

“We have an aggressive schedule before the filing deadline, and we think we’re going to happy where we are at that time,” Russell said.

But trailing not too far behind is Ocean County Freeholder Jack Kelly, who said that he’s raised $200,000 despite early doubts from Republican insiders that he would stay in the race until the June primary.