Spending on New Jersey legislative races has exceeded $40 million, with a significant majority of that spending being used to aid Democrats retain their legislative majorities in next week’s election, according to an analysis released today by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC).
In total, Democratic candidates have spent $22,179,442, while Republican candidates have spent $8,498,992. Democrats also have a 3-to-1 advantage in cash on-hand for the home stretch of the campaign, $13,458,880 to $4,457,190. (ELEC’s analysis covers raising and spending through October 24, the end of the most recent filing period; some money might also be double-counted in cases where cash was transferred from one campaign account to another.)
An additional $12,084,564 has been spent by outside expenditure committees, most of which are affiliated with party leaders or major unions. Democratic-aligned groups have an edge there as well, accounting for more than three-fifths of all outside spending.
As usual, most spending this year has concentrated on a few key legislative districts. The most expensive district is the Monmouth County-based 11th district, where candidates and outside groups have spent a combined $8,329,034. The next-most expensive are the 16th district at $5,895,748; the 4th at $4,646,228; the 38th at $3,969,065; and the 3rd at $3,614,652.
ELEC did not release a breakdown of spending by party, but in each of the most expensive districts except the 4th, Democrats appear to have a significant advantage. For example, in the 11th district, Democratic candidates have reported spending nearly $5 million, with hefty additional aid coming from outside expenditure groups; their Republican opponents lag far behind at just over $800,000 spent.
Among outside groups, the top spenders were two Democratic-aligned committees: Middle Ground, a PAC affiliated with Middlesex Democrats and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Woodbridge), which spent $2,649,658; and Brighter Future Forward, a South Jersey Democratic PAC that spent $1,950,958. Senate Majority Leader Nick Scutari (D-Linden)’s Prosperity Rising NJ spent another $1,638,551.
(Much of that funding, in turn, was provided by unions. The New Jersey Education Association and the Laborers Union gave a combined $2,850,000 to Coughlin’s and Scutari’s PACs, while two different Carpenters-affiliated groups gave $2,500,000 to Brighter Future Forward.)
The spending among Democratic outside groups is largely bifurcated into South Jersey versus everywhere else. Coughlin and Scutari are helping to fund Democratic campaigns in Central and North Jersey, while South Jersey Democrats are using their own committees – Brighter Future Forward, American Representative Majority, and a shady new group called Jersey Freedom – to boost South Jersey campaigns.
On the Republican side, by far the biggest spender is Stronger Foundations, a group funded largely by the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825. Stronger Foundations spent $1,939,954, mostly in the 4th and 8th districts, each of which have top Local 825 officials running as Republican candidates.
More Republican spending came from a smattering of other groups, all tied to party leadership in one way or another: $675,254 from Strengthen Our State, $597,127 from Women for a Stronger New Jersey, and $582,897 from the Republican State Leadership Committee.
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October 21, 2021 -
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