Fine Print: NJEA PAC’s Report Shows Union Sharing Wealth with Candidates
Teachers union lists $1.4 million in spending, most of it for hot legislative campaigns and counties
What it is: The New Jersey Education Association Political Action Committee (NJEA PAC) last week filed its latest Receipts and Expenditures Quarterly Report with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. It covers spending by the union’s political arm on the November 5 gubernatorial and legislative elections.
What it means: The 31-page report shows how NJEA PAC spreads its wealth to more than 100 different organizations with a stake in the 2013 elections, be it for individual candidates or tickets or for county and state party apparatus. It is the most that the NJEA PAC has spent at this point in a state election, said the union’s director, reflective of the union’s investment in the race not just for governor but also the Legislature. The list is predominantly Democratic, including Democratic gubernatorial candidate Barbara Buono, but the NJEA includes a few Republicans in its largesse.
The totals: The NJEA PAC lists $1,439,772.32 in expenditures and another $353,424.19 in the bank. Of the total, $1.2 million went to legislative candidates or committees. (Mooney/NJSpotlight)