The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
Don’t be fooled by the idling heat of summer, New Jersey: A blizzard is coming. And it’s one that will bury the state in accumulating drifts of political campaign cash never seen before. Claude Brodesser-Akner, NJ.com Read more
Who raised the big bucks in the N.J. Assembly races
Outside money flowed into New Jersey Assembly races at a record rate leading up toTuesday’s election. Samantha Marcus, NJ.com Read more
General Majority, under the name Fund for Jobs Growth and Security, spent more than $8 million to help elect Democrats, according to ELEC.
Secret Independent Influence on Elections at ‘Astounding’ Levels
There is no better illustration of the dominant role in elections undertaken by independent groups in New Jersey than this year’s Assembly contest. Jeff Brindle, PolitickerNJ Read more
A preliminary report from New Jersey’s Election Law Enforcement Commission reveals that county party coffers during state elections have seen a continuing slump during this year’s elections. The release cites the growth of independent PAC spending, limitations on contributions from public contractors, and overall contribution limits that have not kept pace with the rate of inflation. JT Aregood, PolitickerNJ Read more
APRIL 10, 2015, 7:42 PM LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2015, 10:48 PM
BY SALVADOR RIZZO
STATE HOUSE BUREAU |
THE RECORD
Companies with public contracts in New Jersey gave a record amount of money last year to a new breed of political advocacy groups that can influence elections without facing the state’s tough pay-to-play restrictions and disclosure requirements.
Although it was an electoral off-year with no statewide candidates on the ballot, contractors gave $1.8 million to PACs and outside groups in 2014, a 16 percent rise over the previous year, according to a report released Tuesday by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. Direct donations from contractors to candidates’ campaigns fell 15 percent, to $9.1 million, ELEC reported.
“Independent groups are becoming a major force in politics, both nationally and in New Jersey,” said Jeff Brindle, the executive director of ELEC. Contractors are pouring more funds into those groups because “it’s a way around the law — it’s a way around pay-to-play” restrictions, and it allows many donors to remain anonymous, Brindle said.
New Jersey law generally bars any company with a contract worth more than $17,500 from giving more than $300 to gubernatorial candidates and party fundraising committees. Any contractor that gives money has to file a disclosure with ELEC.
