WITH ASSEMBLY RACES LOOMING THIS FALL, “BIG SIX” HAS SMALLEST ELECTION-YEAR RESERVES IN MORE THAN DECADE

The two major state parties and four legislative leadership committees are heading toward the fall elections with $2.1 million in cash reserves, according to the latest quarterly reports filed with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC).

Technically known as cash-on-hand, the reserves represent the amount of money available as of July 1 to spend on the fall elections. The impending races will decide 80 Assembly seats and one state Senate seat in a first legislative district special election.

Compared to 2015, which was the last time the Assembly was the only legislative house on the ballot, the current total is four percent less. But if the 2015 figure is adjusted for inflation, the gap widens to 11 percent.

“A dollar today has less buying power than four years ago. So it isn’t good news for party leaders that the combined cash-on-hand of the Big Six is the lowest in more than a decade for an election year,” said Jeff Brindle, ELEC’s Executive Director.

TABLE 1
CAMPAIGN FINANCE ACTIVITY BY “BIG SIX”
AT END OF SECOND QUARTER BY YEAR
BOTH PARTIES RAISED SPENT CASH-ON-HAND NET WORTH* STATE ELECTIONS**

2007 $5,776,859 $2,328,316 $8,015,277 $7,911,808 S/A
2008 $3,438,622 $2,238,356 $1,577,591 $ 918,612
2009 $3,653,103 $1,811,223 $3,682,236 $3,548,060 G/A
2010 $2,175,742 $1,637,673 $1,835,526 $1,666,742
2011 $3,684,467 $1,915,020 $3,329,478 $3,051,770 S/A
2012 $2,988,610 $2,590,387 $1,426,366 $1,193,221
2013 $3,382,737 $1,874,081 $3,189,889 $3,093,711 G/S/A
2014 $1,276,109 $1,319,714 $ 800,994 $ 287,246
2015 $2,476,599 $1,983,389 $2,160,318 $1,624,601 A
2016 $1,661,559 $1,513,987 $1,127,086 $ 979,443
2017 $2,751,561 $2,205,599 $2,263,401 $2,178,899 G/S/A
2018 $2,991,664 $2,416,353 $1,321,894 $1,237,392
2019 $2,283,313 $1,729,263 $2,075,620 $1,988,194 A
*Net worth is cash-on-hand adjusted for debts owed to and by the committee.
**G=Gubernatorial; S=Senate; A=Assembly

Through June 30, Democrats have raised and spent about twice as much as Republicans and have more than twice the cash-on-hand. Democrats have controlled both legislative houses since 2001.

TABLE 2
FUNDRAISING BY “BIG SIX” COMMITTEES
JANUARY 1 THROUGH JUNE 30, 2019
REPUBLICANS RAISED SPENT CASH-ON-HAND NET WORTH*

New Jersey Republican State Committee $ 340,235 $ 335,882 $ 122,155 $ 122,155
Senate Republican Majority $ 152,092 $ 140,299 $ 184,045 $ 178,595
Assembly Republican Victory $ 258,083 $ 123,543 $ 321,571 $ 319,452
SubTotal-Republicans $ 750,411 $ 599,724 $ 627,771 $ 620,202

DEMOCRATS
New Jersey Democratic State Committee $ 709,653 $ 470,469 $ 341,866 $ 312,448
Senate Democratic Majority $ 333,520 $ 138,863 $ 500,638 $ 480,638
Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee $ 489,729 $ 520,207 $ 605,344 $ 574,906
SubTotal-Democrats $1,532,902 $1,129,539 $1,447,849 $1,367,992

Total-Both Parties $2,283,313 $1,729,263 $2,075,620 $1,988,194
*Net worth is cash-on-hand adjusted for debts owed to or by the committee.

While fundraising by both parties is down from more than a decade ago, Democratic fundraising has improved since 2015 while GOP numbers are down.

TABLE 3
CAMPAIGN FINANCE ACTIVITIES FOR “BIX SIX”
COMMITTEES THROUGH SECOND QUARTER
2015 VERSUS 2019
REPUBLICANS RAISED SPENT CASH-ON-HAND NET WORTH*

2015 $1,317,520 $1,073,965 $1,238,022 $ 792,487
2019 $ 750,411 $ 599,724 $ 627,771 $ 620,202
Difference-Dollars $ (567,109) $ (474,241) $ (610,251) $ (172,285)
Difference-% -43% -44% -49% -22%

DEMOCRATS
2015 $1,159,079 $909,424 $ 922,296 $ 832,114
2019 $1,532,902 $1,129,539 $1,447,849 $1,367,992
Difference-Dollars $ 373,823 $ 220,115 $ 525,553 $ 535,878
Difference-% 32% 24% 57% 64%

BOTH PARTIES
2015 $2,476,599 $1,983,389 $2,160,318 $1,624,601
2019 $2,283,313 $1,729,263 $2,075,620 $1,988,194
Difference-Dollars $ (193,286) $ (254,126) $ (84,698) $ 363,593
Difference-% -8% -13% -4% 22%

*Net worth is cash-on-hand adjusted for debts owed to or by the committee.

Brindle said he believes strong parties are necessary to counter the fast-growing influence of independent special interest spenders. He noted that ELEC has recommended changes that may help stem the steady decline in party fundraising since the mid-2000s.

These recommendations include letting party committees accept larger contributions from regular donors as well as public contractors, while sharply limiting the amount public contractors can contribute to political action committees.

“Party committees represent voter-elected officials and they need to be reinvigorated. Otherwise, special interest groups that are not elected by citizens and face no limits on fund-raising will be dictating the political and governmental agendas in New Jersey,” Brindle said.

State Parties and Legislative Leadership Committees are required to report their financial activity to the Commission on a quarterly basis.

The reports are available on ELEC’s website at www.elec.state.nj.us. ELEC also can be accessed on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NJElectionLaw) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/elecnj).

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