‘Big Six’ committees have $3.5 million on-hand in final report before huge contribution limit hike

New Jersey’s “Big Six” state fundraising committees – covering the two state parties and the four fundraising committees for State Senate and Assembly – collectively had $3,544,949 on-hand at the end of the first quarter of 2023, according to a new report released today by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC).

Of that total, the three Democratic committees have $2,454,301, while Republicans have $1,090,648. That’s a continuation of the longtime status quo in New Jersey: Democrats, both on a statewide level and in individual campaigns, typically have more money than their opponents.

Republicans narrowed the gap significantly this quarter, however. The three Republicans committees raised $681,809 and spent $216,059, versus Democrats’ $1,190,153 raised and $931,400 spent; that puts the GOP in a better financial position than at the end of 2022, when they were facing a nearly 4-1 cash on-hand deficit.

According to ELEC, $3.5 million is the largest first-quarter sum since at least 2013 – but all previous records are soon set to be blown out of the water.

That’s because of the Elections Transparency Act, a bill signed into law earlier this month that triples the annual contribution limit for party committees, from $25,000 to $75,000. The bill was approved right after the first quarter of 2023 ended, so it didn’t have any effect on today’s report, but going forward, it’s all but certain that the Big Six committees will have much more money flowing into their coffers.