Now that Mayor Steve Fulop has announced his bid for governor, the pressure is on other top contenders to enter the race. However, should U.S. Reps. Mikie Sherrill and Josh Gottheimer decide to run, they will be significantly impacted by campaign finance restrictions and could lose out on receiving matching funds.
Unlike Fulop, who has already announced that he will not seek another term as Jersey City mayor, Sherrill and Gottheimer are both up for reelection in 2024. While nothing stops them from running for both offices simultaneously, expenditures by their Congressional campaigns that benefit their gubernatorial campaign will be subject to gubernatorial contribution and expenditure limits. Campaign finance restrictions could also impact their ability to obtain matching funds in the 2025 primary election.
Coordinated Expenditures Are Subject to the Contribution Limit
Under the New Jersey Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Reporting Act, gubernatorial candidates are subject to contribution limits. For instance, under N.J.S.A. 19:44A-29, a gubernatorial candidate is currently prohibited from receiving a contribution in excess of $4,900 in the aggregate from any contributor. To participate in New Jersey’s matching funds program, gubernatorial candidates can only spend $7.3 million before the primary and $15.6 for the general election.
In April, the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) issued an Advisory Opinion (Advisory Opinion No. 01-2023) that addressed how these limits are impacted if a candidate runs for governor and Congress at the same time. ELEC provided the opinion in response to a request by David Maradie, a New Jersey resident who stated that he plans to run for U.S. Senate in 2024 and governor in 2025.
In his request, Maradie acknowledged that his Senate committee would make coordinated expenditures supporting his gubernatorial candidate committee by using his image and directly promoting his candidacy in the same geographic area as his gubernatorial campaign. Under N.J.A.C. 19:25-15.29, a “coordinated expenditure” occurs when a communication “makes a reference to the gubernatorial candidate,” was “consented to” or authorized by the gubernatorial candidate, and when the expenditure was made after the gubernatorial candidate applies for matching funds. So, in most cases, spending money to advocate for candidacy for one office will necessarily “aid” the candidacy for another. The same would be true for Sherrill and Gottheimer.
The specific question before ELEC was whether the gubernatorial candidate committee of a simultaneous candidate for U.S. Senate and Governor of New Jersey may receive coordinated expenditures from their Senate campaign on an unlimited basis. The short answer is no. Any coordinated expenditures from a 2024 federal campaign will apply to expenditure limits on a 2025 gubernatorial campaign by the same candidate. Below is ELEC’s summary of its long answer:
All contributions received by your gubernatorial candidate committee from your Senate committee, including coordinated expenditures, are subject to the contribution limit. Should you become a qualified candidate in the 2025 primary election, any coordinated expenditures will also be allocated against the gubernatorial expenditure limit. In addition, public funds will be withheld if your gubernatorial candidate committee accepts and retains contributions in excess of the contribution limit.
The Advisory Opinion also makes it clear that while a qualified candidate in the primary election may contribute up to $25,000 of the candidate’s “own funds” to support the candidate’s gubernatorial campaign, any funds raised as a Congressional candidate will not be his or her “own funds.” Accordingly, any coordinated expenditures by Sherrill and Gottheimer’s House committee benefiting their gubernatorial candidate committee will be subject to the contribution limit applicable to all other contributions.
In essence, the Advisory Opinion states that candidates for Congress or other offices can’t also be declared and run for governor or it will count against their matching funds. ELEC even goes further — if they spend money and THEN declare, it will still count against matching funds. So basically, if Sherrill and Gottheimer spend any money on digital or cable TV ads outside their district, it would count against matching funds.
Impact on 2025 Gubernatorial Election
While the 2025 gubernatorial election in New Jersey is still more than two years away, it is projected to be a crowded field. Sherrill and Gottheimer have the name recognition needed to win the Democratic primary, and their visibility will only increase during their Congressional reelection campaigns. At the same time, their current jobs also put them at a distinct fundraising disadvantage that can’t be taken lightly.