Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D-Trenton) raised around $144,000 in the 1st quarter of 2026 and has raised $214,000 overall since launching her bid for New Jersey’s 12th congressional district, her campaign announced today.
“This is a people-powered campaign, and we’re doing the work every single day across this district,” Reynolds-Jackson said in a statement. “We have talked to people in every corner of this district, listening to their concerns, answering their calls, and working to meet their needs. That is what drives this campaign. We will keep showing up, and we are going to keep building real momentum across this district.”
Reynolds-Jackson entered the race for retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing)’s seat in November of last year, and raised $70,000 during her first month and a half in the race. Sixty-two percent of the donations she’s received were under $100, her campaign said, and 88% came from within New Jersey.
The fundraising numbers mean that Reynolds-Jackson – who has represented Trenton and its suburbs in the Assembly since 2018 and who is the near-unanimous choice of the Mercer County Democratic establishment to replace Watson Coleman – will go into the final two months of the 12th district campaign at something of a financial disadvantage.
The crowded Democratic primary’s two best-funded candidates thus far are surgeon and Army veteran Adam Hamawy, who announced earlier this week that he’s raised nearly $550,000 for his campaign, and progressive activist Sue Altman, who’s raised more than $400,000. Another Democratic contender, former Energy Department official Jay Vaingankar, has raised $260,000.
Other top candidates for the seat, among them East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen, Somerset County Commissioner Shanel Robinson (D-Franklin), and Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp, have not yet announced their Q1 fundraising totals, though Cohen had raised close to $280,000 as of the end of 2025.
