ELEC

County political parties have raised and spent less money this year than at the same point four years ago – the last time there was a gubernatorial race while all 80 assembly seats were up for reelection.

Fundraising by county committees is down 17% across the board, according to numbers released by the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), while spending is down 18%.

The 42 Republican and Democratic committees have raised a combined $7.1 million this year and spend $6.2 million – down from having raised $8.6 million and $7.6 million at this point in 2005.

Jeffrey Brindle, executive director of ELEC, attributed the lower fundraising to the weak economy and new pay-to-play laws, along with a new development.

“More and more we are witnessing political action committees (PACs) being formed, in many instances by party members,” said Brindle.  “This activity may be drawing funds away from the county organizations as well.”
 

The first gubernatorial debate will be on October 1 after all.

A spokeswoman for NJN confirmed that the network has dropped its request to the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) to reschedule the debate for October 22.

“After the Corzine campaign issued statements indicating that the Governor would participate in the debate regardless of the date, NJN withdrew its request this morning for a change of date and will hold the Election Law Enforcement Commission debate on October 1 as originally planned. Our goal in seeking the change was to ensure participation of all viable candidates in this race,” said Ronnie Weyl, the network’s Vice President for Public Affairs and Acting COO.

Independent gubernatorial candidate Christopher Daggett urged the Election Law Enforcement Commission’s (ELEC) commissioners today to reject Gov. Corzine’s bid to delay the first state-sponsored gubernatorial debate in a letter this morning.    

“In a gubernatorial campaign that has been dominated by negative advertising and petty personal attacks, this shift in the debate schedule would prevent voters from being able to listen to the candidates discuss the issues face-to-face until relatively late in the campaign and would limit significantly the ability of voters to assess the candidates’ public performance over the usual period of weeks following debates,” wrote Daggett.

The Corzine camp told NJN that it would participate in the October 1 debate, which led NJN – hoping to include the governor  – to request the date bumped back to October 22.  

The ELEC commissioners will hold a telephonic meeting this afternoon to discuss the request.

CRYAN FILES ELEC COMPLAINT AGAINST CHRISTIE
FOR FAILURE TO DISCLOSE LOAN

(TRENTON) – Democratic State Committee Chair Joseph P. Cryan today filed a complaint against Conservative Right Wing Gubernatorial Candidate Chris Christie with the Election Law and Ethics Commission (ELEC)  for his failure to disclose a personal loan of $46,000 to Michele Brown, currently the first assistant to the United States Attorney, promoted since Christie’s resignation.  Cryan said that Christie is in clear violation of state law that promotes transparency, accountability and ethical behavior.

The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) is seeking sponsors for two televised general election debates for gubernatorial candidates and will make a decision by July 21.  Participation in the two debates is mandatory for any candidates qualifying for public financing.

A-3902, which requires Lt. Governor candidates to debate, passed the Assembly on May 21 by a 45-29 vote.  The bill is currently being considered by the Senate State Government Committee, whose Chairman, State Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Linden) is the sponsor of the Senate version of the bill.

The two gubernatorial debates must be held between September 22 and October 23.  Sponsors can't be affiliated with any political party or with any holder of or candidate for public office and must withhold general election endorsements until after the debate.  According to ELEC, the sponsor "must also be able to demonstrate experience since 1976 in sponsoring televised debates among candidates for New Jersey statewide office. Debate sponsor applicants which are either: any association of two or more separately-owned news publications or broadcasting outlets or any association of media correspondents are not required to demonstrate prior experience in televised candidate debates."

Former Bogota Mayor Steven Lonegan won't lose public financing for his campaign for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission will not seek to deny public financing to Republican gubernatorial candidate Steven Lonegan, but will not make a public statement today regarding a private meeting today to discuss an unspecified issue that was believed to be related to the Lonegan campaign.

"If we were issuing a compaint in this matter we would be going public," ELEC Executive Director Frederick Herrmann told PolitickerNJ.com.  ELEC has not confirmed that they discussed Lonegan today.

The Lonegan campaign says they expect to receive an additional $139,640 in matching funds soon.

ELEC Commissioners who could decide Steve Lonegan's fate: left to right, former State Sen. Jerry Fitzgerald English, 74; former Assembly Majority Leader Albert Burstein, 86; former Whitman/DiFrancesco counsel Peter Tober, 42; and former Superior Court Judge Amos Saunders, 76. English and Burstein are Democrats; Tober and Saunders are Republicans.

The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) will hold a special meeting - not open to the public -- tomorrow which could change the course of the Republican gubernatorial primary.  While ELEC has declined to disclose their agenda item, it is widely believed that they will discuss issues pertaining to the public financing of Steve Lonegan's campaign.  Lonegan acknowledged last week that he has provided ELEC with answers to some questions concerning his affiliation with Americas for Prosperity, an anti-tax issue advocacy group. 

The ELEC investigation is the result of an Associated Press story that suggests the former Bogota Mayor was obligated to disclose the details of his relationship with Americans for Prosperity, an anti-tax lobbying group for whom he served as New Jersey Director.  State law requires candidates to disclose their connection to issue advocacy groups to avoid a conflict, such as avoiding spending limits that come with the public financing of gubernatorial elections.

Former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan has qualified for public matching funds as a candidate for the GOP nomination for Governor.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan’s application for public financing has been approved by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission and he received $471,343.24 in matching funds earlier today, according to the Lonegan campaign.  The former Bogota Mayor is the first of the three announced Republican candidates to qualify for public funds.

Senator Bill Baroni, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement today regarding a state appeals court ruling prohibiting convicted former State Senator Wayne Bryant from using his campaign funds for legal defense:

TRENTON – A measure sponsored by Senator Loretta Weinberg which would require public disclosure of campaign contributions and expenditures made and received by those seeking a leadership position within a political party committee was approved today by the Senate State Government Committee.

            ““The approval of this legislation would put us one step closer to full disclosure of all campaign contributions,” said Senator Weinberg, D-Bergen.  “This closes a campaign finance loophole. Right now, party officers can raise and spend undisclosed money in any way they choose. And in some areas, it is the intra-party elections that matter most. When a candidate is running for any elected position, the public has a right to know who donates to that campaign, as well as who the candidate supports financially.”