Spadea receives first matching funds as other gov candidates near full match

The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) has distributed another $3.8 million in matching funds for eight gubernatorial candidates, including its first disbursement to radio host Bill Spadea, one of the leading candidates for the Republican nomination.

Spadea received $1,535,597 from ELEC, putting him at 28% of the total $5.5 million cap on matching funds. State Sen. Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield), meanwhile, received $114,640, bringing his total up to $2,883,631 (52% of the cap).

The third major candidate for the GOP nomination, former Assemblyman and 2021 nominee Jack Ciattarelli (R-Somerville), hit the $5.5 million cap last week, making him the first and so far only candidate on either side of the aisle to do so.

All five qualified Democratic gubernatorial candidates received funds today: Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly) got $454,536, putting him at $5,104,618 (93%) overall; Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) got $445,841, putting her at $4,708,411 (86%); Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop got $186,514, putting him at $4,079,783 (74%); former State Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford) got $83,940, putting him at $3,988,357 (73%); and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka got $984,969, putting him at $1,826,882 (33%).

ELEC has approved $29.6 million in publicly financed matching funds for the 2025 primary cycle thus far.

That comes on top of the money that the candidates themselves have raised and the millions more – sometimes tens of millions more – being spent by a huge array of difficult-to-track super PACs and outside groups, all of which will likely combine to make this among the most expensive gubernatorial primary elections in state history.

Three other candidates who will appear on June 10 primary ballots did not qualify for matching funds: New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller for Democrats, and former Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac and contractor Justin Barbera for Republicans. (Spiller is running a very real campaign, but the vast majority of his money has flowed through an allied super PAC, which doesn’t count towards matching funds.)

Not only does that mean that Spiller, Kranjac, and Barbera will lose out on millions in funding that their opponents are receiving, it also bars them from the debate stage at two ELEC-awarded debates later this spring, one hosted by the New Jersey Globe and the other hosted by NJ Spotlight News.

Under New Jersey’s public financing plan, candidates are eligible to receive $2 for every $1 raised once they reach a fundraising threshold of $580,000; the cutoff to raise or self-fund $580,000 was March 24, the filing deadline for major-party candidates.

Candidates in the primary may qualify for up to $5.5 million in matching funds and agree to an $8.7 million cap on primary campaign expenditures. Whichever two candidates make it to the general election will be eligible for yet more public funds, subject to higher caps: $12.5 million in matching funds and $18.5 million in expenditures.