The Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association has upped its investment boosting former Lieutenant Gov. Tahesha Way’s campaign for the 11th congressional district, saying today that it will now spend $1.4 million on Way’s behalf.
Of that total, the DLGA said $1.2 million will be spent on TV advertising – the group began airing an ad last week touting Way as a proven fighter against President Donald Trump – and another $200,000 on pro-Way mailers, with more potentially still to come. “Our significant investment in NJ-11 marks the first step in the DLGA’s commitment to backing Democratic lieutenant governors running for higher office nationwide in 2026 – and Tahesha Way is exactly the kind of leader we’re proud to stand with,” DLGA executive director Kevin Holst said in a statement.
The size of the investment is remarkable for DLGA, which was founded in 2018 but which has never reported making a federal campaign expenditure before; it will also put Way’s name in front of a lot of voters between now and February 5, the day of the special Democratic primary.
Way is also getting some outside support from a brand-new PAC, Article One Inc., that began spending $350,000 earlier this week on digital ads. The PAC has no online presence, has not made any prior expenditures, and did not respond to a phone call, meaning its reasoning for getting involved in the race remains a mystery.
The other major outside spending in the race has come from United Democracy Project, the political spending arm of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which has – controversially – chosen to go nuclear against former Rep. Tom Malinowski. As of yesterday, UDP has reported spending $861,942 on anti-Malinowski ads, mailers, and phone calls.
There’s been speculation that AIPAC’s anti-Malinowski crusade and the flood of outside spending on Way’s behalf could be linked, but AIPAC has not said which of the many Democrats running to succeed Gov. Mikie Sherrill it prefers over Malinowski.
Malinowski has an affiliated super PAC, the 218 Project, that has spent a modest $98,500 thus far on digital advertising boosting his campaign. And a third candidate, Analilia Mejia, began getting some outside assistance on Wednesday from the Working Families Party, which spent $80,000 on mailers.
The candidates themselves, of course, have also pumped plenty of campaign money into the race, with at least five of them – Way, Malinowski, Mejia, Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill (D-Montclair), and Passaic County Commissioner John Bartlett (D-Wayne) – airing TV or digital ads. The full scope of their spending will be much better known by tomorrow night, when pre-primary fundraising reports are due.
