County parties flush with cash

New Jersey’s county political parties are richer than they’ve been in a decade.

County parties finished the first quarter of 2019 with more than $3.3 million banked, more money than they’ve had for 15 years, according to a report released by the Election Law Enforcement Commission Tuesday.

The Democratic party finished the first quarter with a little more than twice as much money banked than its Republican counterpart, with $2.3 million in its war chest to the GOP’s $1 million.

Jeff Brindle, ELEC’s executive director, said the fundraising was boosted in part by self-funded political candidates like Gov. Phil Murphy and former U.S. Senate candidate Bob Hugin, as well as from unions and other donors.

“The windfall has boosted the ‘bottom line’ of county parties, at least in the short-term,” said Brindle

In total, the parties raised roughly $1.6 million in the quarter, the most raised since 2007.

The Democratic wealth is largely concentrated among four county parties. Parties in Camden, Gloucester, Passaic and Union accounted for roughly $1.5 million of the $2.3 million banked by county parties.

Republican counterparts were less fortunate, though the Salem and Somerset County Republican organizations finished the quarter with $269,874 and $173,658 in their war chests, respectively.

Despite the swell in party funds, Brindle said campaign finance reforms boosting county parties were still needed.

“I remain firmly convinced that the Legislature needs to adopt ELEC recommendations that would provide a direct boost to party fund-raising,” he said. “In an era where independent special interest groups are becoming huge competitors to parties, fundamental reforms remain necessary.”