The DC-Trenton Money Train
With the NJ GOV race in the nat'l spotlight, election officials there are getting worried about the millions of dollars being spent on the race by federal Dem and GOP groups.
The DGA and RGA, neither of which is required to file campaign finance reports with the NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission, have burned through an estimated $5M on TV ads alone, according to a recent report. While this level of spending by outside groups isn't unprecedented for an important off-year election, it's unfamiliar territory for NJ. In '05, both major party GOV candidates were self-funders and nat'l party organizations didn't see the need to spend heavily.
"My main concern," said ELEC exec. dir. Jeff Brindle, "is that these 527 groups are running issue ads; that we may not get any disclosure and the public may not know how much money is being spent." Federal PACs would only have to file a report in NJ "if they came out and used the magic words 'support' or 'defeat' a particular candidate," he added.
As a matter of policy, Brindle won't say if that's happened yet, or if a complaint has been filed against either the RGA or DGA. But he admits ELEC is closely monitoring the situation. If it determines a federal group crossed the line in support of a candidate, the guilty party could be fined.
It's also possible that the inflow of federal money this cycle will prompt NJ to tighten its reporting requirements. ELEC will reexamine the current rules in March '10, Brindle said. "It's likely that an issue like this might get brought up."
In the meantime, the candidates' next campaign finance reports are due 10/5. Ex-U.S. Atty Chris Christie's (R) filing is unlikely to contain any surprises. He's taken public financing and is expected to reach the $10.9M spending cap. On the other hand, Jon Corzine's report will reveal how close the gov. is to reaching his goal of raising $15M from donors.
[SEAN J. MILLER]
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