Chris Rock, who lives in Alpine, contributed $1,000 to a New Jersey congressional candidate.
WASHINGTON -- Actor and comedian Chris Rock donated to former White House speechwriter Josh Gottheimer's congressional campaign in February, helping the Democratic candidate become the best-funded opponent U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett ever has faced.
Gottheimer raised $602,448 during the first three months of the year, bringing his total to $2 million, including $1,000 from Rock, an Alpine resident. He entered April with $1.7 million in the bank.
The Democratic challenger released his fundraising figures in advance of Friday's Federal Election Commission filing deadline for congressional candidates to report their finances for the first three months of the year.
Where Garrett stands on gay candidates
Garrett (R-5th Dist.), who is considered the most vulnerable New Jersey congressional incumbent, had $2.4 million in the bank as of Dec. 31. He faces two Republican opponents in the June 7 primary.
He has been criticized for reportedly saying he would not support the House Republicans' fundraising arm because it backed gay candidates. Garrett said in a recent interview that his litmus test was whether a candidate backed the GOP platform's opposition to same-sex marriage, not the sexual orientation of a particular nominee.
A House Financial Services subcommittee chairman, Garrett has relied on support from the banking industry for his congressional campaigns; his four biggest sources of campaign donations have been employees in industries under the panel's jurisdiction.
But this time around, Gottheimer took in more than $85,000 from employees and executives working for companies under the Financial Services Committee's jurisdiction.
He also received $1,000 from former U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.) and $2,300 from former House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri, now a lobbyist.
AT&T's political action committee, which earlier had contributed $1,000 to Garrett, gave the same amount to Gottheimer. Johnson & Johnson's PAC gave $2,300 to Gottheimer.
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook