A New Jersey company has taken an unusual interest in the re-election of the president of the Bronx, with 12 employees, including a secretary and a maintenance worker, donating between $2,000 and $4,000 each to the campaign of Adolfo Carrion.

The company, Essex Plaza Management, is based in Newark but manages a 206-unit residential property known as “the Castle” on 180th Street and Andrews Avenue in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx.

Eleven of the 12 Essex contributors list New Jersey as their place of residence, and only one was a New York State resident. In addition, the company donated $4,500 to a New York State political action committee controlled by Mr. Carrion.

The contributions are raising eyebrows among some political observers who say they aren’t sure why a New Jersey secretary or maintenance worker would spend thousands of dollars on a New York City political race that isn’t expected to be a close contest.

Mr. Carrion’s campaign manager, Benny Catala, said the contributions were legal under city and state law. “Each of the many contributions we receive from our supporters strictly follows the specific guidelines of the Campaign Finance Board,” he said in a written statement. “We take great pride in the fact that Adolfo Carrion has friends throughout the region who believe in his leadership and message and want to show their support through their generous contributions.”

Several Essex employees would not respond to repeated questions about the nature of their business or their connection to Mr. Carrion. The company’s chief executive, Kenneth Pagano, said from his summer house on the Jersey shore that he had received phone messages from The New York Sun, but did not return them because he did not want to speak with the newspaper. He did not respond directly to a question about why so many of the company’s employees had contributed.

City and state campaign finance records list no contributions from the 12 Essex donors to New York political candidates other than Mr. Carrion.

The only Essex employee who would talk to The New York Sun, Mattie James, who was identified in campaign finance records as a senior vice president, said that Mr. Carrion “is a very nice person.” She said she had “a number of family members that reside and live in the Bronx and a lot of family in New York.”

Mr. Carrion, who has said he expects to run for mayor in 2009, is heavily favored in his re-election fight this year over challenger Kevin Brawley, a Republican. Mr. Brawley received 2% of the vote in his 2001 run for borough president.

Through July 15, Mr. Carrion has raised more than $1 million and received an additional $105,000 in matching funds from the city. He has spent about $460,000 and has more than a half a million dollars left in his war chest. City campaign finance rule would allow Mr. Carrion to use some of his leftover money for a future mayoral race.

Three-quarters of the Essex gifts, or $20,000, were donated on March 10, the night of a large, $1,000-a-plate fundraiser for Mr. Carrion. According to an account of the fund-raiser in the New York Times, the event was held in a space overlooking the rail yard where a new Jets Stadium was proposed.

One director of maintenance for Essex, Javier Fernandez of the East Elmhurst section of Queens, wrote two checks of $2,000 each, one in 2003 and one in 2005. The contributions helped Mr. Carrion earn $250 in matching funds from the city. Mr. Fernandez’s total exceeds the maximum individual donation allowed for a borough president, which is $3,850.

Essex Plaza’s support for Mr. Carrion is not the only time it has been active in politics. Six of the 12 Essex employees who gave to Mr. Carrion have also combined since 2001 to donate more than $26,000 to a New Jersey congressman, Robert Menendez, who is chairman of the Democratic Caucus in the House of Representatives. The Essex chief executive, Mr. Pagano, has donated $19,000 to Mr. Menendez’s federal political-action committee. Mr. Pagano gave $2,500 to Mr. Carrion in his 2001 race, but has not donated anything so far to the 2005 campaign.

Under city law, individuals may not be reimbursed by companies for their political contributions. A spokeswoman for the city’s Campaign Finance Board, Tanya Domi, would not say whether the board is conducting an investigation into the Essex gifts.