A new political action committee run by Bill Spadea, Elect Common Sense, raised $166,532 in the 90 days following its launch, outraising Jack Ciattarelli’s PAC, Mainstream Majority, by almost 3-1.
Mainstream Majority has raised $61,898 since starting up in August 2022, according to reports filed with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.
Ciattarelli and Spadea are almost certain to seek the Republican nomination for governor in 2025.
“This is an unprecedented achievement for a grassroots Republican political organization in New Jersey,” Spadea said. “Elect Common Sense is building an army to take back our state and our supporters are stepping up in a big way with their hard-earned dollars to help us do it.”
Elect Common Sense says they have over 9,500 individual online donors with an average contribution of $17.51 per donation.
To raise the money, Spadea is appealing to Republicans who are not necessarily connected to the GOP infrastructure.
“The back room, political class in Trenton who have been running our party and our state into the ground for the last 30 years need to get on board with the growing voices of common sense or get out of the way.,” said Spadea. “Time’s up, as people are embracing this new Republican movement.”
Spadea launched Elect Common Sense in March to help 2023 candidates who support his “common sense” agenda. He serves as honorary chairman; Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore is a paid advisor to the PAC.
Eric Arpert, a top Ciattarelli advisor, said he wants to see “the club’s next public filing.”
“Based on their most recent report six weeks ago, they’d spent a bunch more than they’d raised on consultants and didn’t report any contributions to Republican candidates,” Alpert stated. “With so many strong 2023 candidates and opportunities to pick up seats this year, I hope that changes.
Ciattarelli’s PAC shows contributions this year to Republican organizations in Atlantic, Cumberland, Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth Morris, and Sussex, along with the New Jersey Republican State Committee and several legislative, county, and local candidates. The PAC contributed $1,000 to Steve Dnistrian, the Republican challenging State Sen. Vin Gopal in the 11th district
But the PAC run by Spadea has not yet reported contributions to candidates or party organizations.
“The grassroots small-dollar donors who give to Mainstream Majority can be confident that their contributions are being put to work electing Republicans this year,” said Arpert.
Spadea, a NJ 101.5 radio personality and conservative activist, has been carefully laying the groundwork for a gubernatorial bid for several years.
“We are building a common sense majority to end the vice grip that the far-left have on the people of New Jersey. Tolerating ‘business as usual’ in Trenton is no longer acceptable,” he said. “It’s time to start winning for middle and working-class New Jerseyans. I’m diggin’ in to fix this state, and we are just getting started.”
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