Progressive Imani Oakley Surpasses a Quarter Million in Donations

Montclair, NJ — Imani Oakley, progressive candidate for Congress in N.J.’s 10th Congressional District, has once again announced a strong fundraising haul for her grassroots campaign. Oakley announced Tuesday that her campaign raised $121,158 in her second filing — for a total of $261,081 since announcing her run for office six months ago. Impressively, that number is entirely made up of individual donor contributions.

“New Jersey is ready for the future,” Oakley said. “I’m running as a proud progressive and our fundraising numbers show that resonates with working people.”

Oakley’s campaign has focused on coalition-building and community outreach, and has earned 11 new endorsements since Q3. These include Building Bridges for America, Roadmap for Progress, Future Generations PAC, 4 independent Sunrise Movement Hubs – Sunrise Hunterdon, Sunrise Montclair, Sunrise Union County, Sunrise Morris County, Center for Biological Diversity Action PAC, Civil Rights Advocate and Muslim Community Leader Selaedin Maksut, Former Presidential Candidate Marianne Williamson, and Palestinian-American Community Organizer and Advocate Wassim Kanaan.

This growth in support of real community advocates offers a stark contrast to Payne’s “coalition”: almost all high-dollar donors, corporations, and PACs.

In this cycle, Payne Jr. has now reported that over 70 percent of his donations came from PACs, with less than 1% of his donations coming from small dollar grassroots contributions.

Payne Jr.’s campaign disclosures also show that — despite repeatedly being asked to disavow them — he has continued to accept donations from controversial special interests such as oil pipeline lobbyists, real estate developers, pharmaceutical conglomerates, and anti-union corporations.

“Can a politician really claim to be fighting for our working-class communities when their campaign is largely funded by companies like Wells Fargo, which made billions of dollars with predatory mortgage schemes targeting communities of color, or Amazon, which busts unions and exploits workers, or Blue Cross Blue Shield, which has a vested interest in keeping a single-payer healthcare system off the table? How about large individual donations from powerful law enforcement officials, those who actively fight against the idea of divesting from militarized police forces and investing in our communities?” asked Oakley.

On the other hand, Oakley has vowed not to take any corporate PAC money, and has signed the #NoFossilFuelMoney pledge to reject all fossil fuel PAC donations as well as the CODEPINK #DivestFromtheWarMachine pledge to refuse money from weapons developers.

“Payne Jr. continues to shamelessly serve corporate interests,” Oakley said. “Our communities want more than someone who pals around with Amazon, Raytheon, and ExxonMobil. That’s why people are giving their grassroots donations to the candidate who will actually fight for their interests.”

Imani Oakley is a Brand New Congress-endorsed candidate, long-time political organizer, and pro-democracy activist running for Congress in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District. The seat covers parts of Essex, Union, and Hudson counties. Her time working in New Jersey political spaces has made one thing clear: our state suffers from rabid corruption. Her campaign is dedicated to ending this system and lifting up working-class communities.

For more information about Imani, please visit: Oakleyforcongress.com