Spending in governor’s race over $122 million

New Jersey gubernatorial candidates from both parties are spending over $122.5 million to win the June 10 primary election, including independent expenditure groups, according to a review conducted by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.

The $122.5 million doesn’t include cash-on-hand of roughly $14 million that hasn’t been spent.

The candidates – six Democrats and five Republicans – have spent $54.8 million, and outside spending has hit $67.6 million.  ELEC noted that most of the independent spending comes from groups that support a particular candidate but are, by law, not permitted to coordinate their efforts directly.

On the Democratic side, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly) spent $7,885,616 and has $1,317,984 left unspent, while Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) has reported expenditures of $8,534,788 and a cash reserve of $902,507.  Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop has spent $8,678,908 and $427,677 in the bank, and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has spent $6,025,815 and $376,006 cash-on-hand.    Spending for former Senate President Steve Sweeney is at $7,189,510, with $875,608 remaining, while New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller has spent $342,059 – not including almost $37.5 million from his NJEA-backed super PAC – with $96,758 left over.

Former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli has spent $6,965,779 in his bid for the Republican nomination and reported $1,285,422 cash-on-hand, while former NJ 101.5 radio personality Bill Spadea has spent $3,647,324 and has $887,010 in the bank.  State Sen. Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield) has spent $4,377,161 and $518,688 in his warchest.

Independent expenditure committees have made up about 55% of the total dollars spent: Working New Jersey (Spiller), $37,495,996; Affordable New Jersey (Gottheimer), $9,901,339; Coalition for Progress (Fulop), $6,722,674; Building Bridges Voter Project (Sweeney), $4,343,552; One Giant Leap PAC (Sherrill), $3,759,499; No Surrender (Gottheimer), $1,699,050; Kitchen Table Conservatives (Ciattarelli), $1,336,137; Rebuilding New Jersey PAC (Spadea), $947,746; Workers for a Better New Jersey (Fulop), $341,678; and Just the Facts NJ (Bramnick), $21,000.  Two other groups aimed at helping Democrats, Servant-Leader Fund and Greater Garden State, have spent $298,571 and $89,800, respectively.

Some of the revenue sources include: Garden State Forward to Working New Jersey, $40,000,000 (Spiller); Coalition for Progress (federal committee) to Coalition for Progress (state committee), $6,461,710 (Fulop); Carpenters Action Fund to Building Bridges Voter Project, $1,800,000 (Sweeney); Working for Working Americans to Building Bridges Voter Project, $1,546,248 (Sweeney); Growing Economic Opportunities (Laborers) to One Giant Leap PAC, $1,050,000 (Sherrill); Fair & Affordable NJ to Workers for a Better NJ, $1,000,000 (Fulop); No Surrender Action Fund to No Surrender, $750,000 (Gottheimer); Fair & Affordable NJ to Kitchen Table Conservatives Inc., $500,000 (Ciattarelli); Voice of New Jersey to Rebuilding New Jersey PAC, $263,757 (Spadea); Garden State Success Inc. to One Giant Leap PAC, $150,000 (Sherrill); Servant-Leader Fund Inc to One Giant Leap PAC, $100,000 (Sherrill); Prosperity Rising NJ Inc. to One Giant Leap PAC, $100,000 (Sherrill); Emily’s List to One Giant Leap PAC, $100,000 (Sherrill); The Bipartisan Network PAC to One Giant Leap PAC, $100,000 (Sherrill); Principled Veterans Fund (PV Fund) to One Giant Leap PAC, $91,600 (Sherrill); Garden State Success Inc. to Kitchen Table Conservatives Inc., $90,000 (Ciattarelli); Gateway to Leadership PAC to One Giant Leap PAC, $32,500 (Sherrill).