The GOP 2025 PAC wars

Apr 23, 2024

Good Tuesday morning!

Let’s check in on the proxy Republican fight for governor in 2025.

It’s been almost two years since recently-once-again-formally-declared gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli launched “Mainstream Majority” — a PAC clearly intended to pave the way for his current gubernatorial race. The problem is, it’s been six months since the last report for the PAC was available on ELEC’s website. When I last checked Monday evening, the PAC’s fourth quarter report for 2023 and its first quarter report for 2024 weren't there. I'm told all its paperwork as of yesterday was submitted to the agency. So we’ll know more soon. As of its last filing, from Oct. 20 of last year, the PAC had just $1,573 on hand — and I believe the PAC may be ending its operations.

But the perhaps-moribund status of Mainstream Majority coincides with the emergence of another pro-Ciattarelli PAC — or it’s more accurate to say it’s anti-Bill Spadea, the far-right radio host angling to run for governor to Ciattarelli’s right. “Kitchen Table Conservatives” raised $200,000 from just three donors: $100,000 from developer Anthony Palmieri, $50,000 from the Jaguar dealership near Princeton and $50,000 from developer Richard Kurtz. (Kurtz funded another super PAC that came in late to help Ciattarelli in the 2021 gubernatorial race, peppering the state with campaign signs for him).

Meanwhile, a Spadea PAC called “Elect Common Sense” continues to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars each quarter while spending almost as much on fundraising and other expenses — including consultants like Ocean County GOP Chair George Gilmore and Bill Stepien’s firm, National Public Affairs — while donating just a tiny percentage of its earnings to actual candidates and campaigns. The PAC raised $236,000 last quarter — much of it from small recurring donations from retired people around the country, and spent $234,000. Of its spending, $6,400 — or 2.7 percent — went to candidates or political committees.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Last term the Board of Education declined to furnish us with paper on which to write our examinations, so we were under the necessity of buying our own paper. The said Mr. Robinson claims the papers because we handed them to him to examine. We claim them because we bought the paper.” — An excerpt from Civil War-era journals by students at Barringer High School in Newark. The journals, rediscovered in 1969, will soon go to the Library of Congress.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Christy Biedron, Maisha Moore, John Rooney, Wayne Zitt.

WHERE’S MURPHY? — No public schedule.

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WHAT TRENTON MADE

THE ANTI-GARDEN STATE — “Two years after first legal cannabis sales, New Jerseyans still seek home cultivation,” by New Jersey Monitor’s Sophie Nieto-Munoz: “For the last two years, people have been able to stroll into New Jersey dispensaries to buy weed. But growing your own cannabis plant remains a third-degree felony. Despite a growing number of nearby states legalizing the growing of marijuana plants at home, bills to do the same in New Jersey have languished every session since cannabis was legalized. A state senator and chief sponsor of a bill to allow medical marijuana patients to grow cannabis, plus another bill that would expand that to 10 plants for medical patients and six plants for recreational users, said the fight for home grow is 'at a standstill.' 'We said we were doing this bill for criminal justice purposes, and to partially correct the very failed multi-billion war on drugs campaign that happened for decades in New Jersey, so this is frustrating. I feel like we’re not headed in the right direction,' said Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Monmouth).”

— Weed activist Chris Goldstein: “Happy Earth Day New Jersey! We planted some cannabis at the State House b/c we still need to allow home cultivation in our Garden State!!”

MURPHY: ‘I WILL FIX NJ TRANSPARENCY IF IT (REDACTED)’ — “NJ residents want transparency in government. That much is clear,” by The Record’s Charles Stile: “There have been other transparency measures that continued a slow crawl through a cautious Legislature. A measure giving civilian boards subpoena power in their oversight of police misconduct flickered for a moment in December before dying in the lame-duck session. And the Legislature never held public hearings on the pandemic-era failures under Gov. Phil Murphy's administration that led to more than 200 deaths at state-run homes for veterans. Yet the mood is clearly changing. The recent 3rd Circuit decision was a historic breakthrough that not only is shaking up the calcified status quo of New Jersey politics but is sparking hopes that more transparency and more reform are in the offing. Already, good government advocates and campaign finance watchdogs are dusting off their wish lists of democratic and transparency reforms that were once deemed pie-in-the-sky ideals and dead on arrival in a Legislature steeped in the party machine tradition. It was only a year ago that the Legislature passed the ironically named ‘Elections Transparency Act,' which increased the allowed size and volume of campaign contributions. Now some advocates believe the political environment is ripe for a pivot in the opposite direction.”

BUDGET — “Governor’s plan for funding NJ Transit is getting scrutiny,” by NJ Spotlight News’ John Reitmeyer: “Several years ago, New Jersey’s corporation business tax generated a record haul as U.S. companies saw their profits soar, which provided a major boost for the state budget’s general fund. But this year, there’s been a big jump in businesses claiming they’re owed refunds, leading Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration to downgrade the revenue forecast for the tax commonly referred to as the CBT. On Jan. 1, the surtax on top-earning businesses levied for the last several years in New Jersey expired. That is also lowering CBT collections over the second half of the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. Such vicissitudes are nothing new for a tax that has a reputation among state budget experts for being among New Jersey’s most volatile sources of revenue. But this year, that volatility is an even bigger concern for lawmakers tasked with reviewing Murphy’s proposed budget for the new fiscal year that begins July 1.”

RESTRAINING ORDERS — “Sex crime victims should have easier path to restraining orders, N.J. Supreme Court rules,” by Kevin Shea for NJ.com: “Victims of sexual crimes in New Jersey should have a clear and less burdensome path to obtaining final protective orders against their attackers under the Sexual Assault Survivor Protection Act, the state Supreme Court ruled on Monday. The test for obtaining the order should be that a person was the victim of nonconsensual sexual contact and there exists a possibility of future risk to the safety or well-being of the victim, the state’s highest court ruled. The decision resulted from a Gloucester County case in which a person who faced a final protective order contended on appeal that a more stringent six-factor standard used in domestic violence cases should have been met.”

— ”Legislators fear making Delaware Water Gap a national park could ruin it for many people”

— “Maggie Moran launches new public affairs firm”

— “IVF and tech-assisted fertility treatments would be protected in New Jersey under new bill”

BIDEN TIME

DOWNTOWN JASEY — “A businessman, a dad and ‘a regular person’ on why he’s pursuing the Eighth District seat,” by The Jersey Journal’s Mark Koosau: “In a high-profile Democratic primary where the son of a U.S. senator facing corruption charges and the mayor of Hoboken are gunning for a House seat, Kyle Jasey wants to be seen as ‘a regular person.’ When he showed up at a Downtown Jersey City café for an interview, he wasn’t accompanied by a campaign staffer or even dressed up in a suit. Instead, he arrived on his bicycle, which he dubs the ‘dad-mobile’ as it has seats in the front and back for his two kids … Jasey has been around politics for a long time. He supported his mother, who is a former state Assemblywoman, he was a member of a local Democratic party and also volunteered for Gov. Jon Corzine’s failed reelection campaign in 2009. But Jasey, a 41-year-old real estate lender in Jersey City, framed himself as the antithesis to his incumbent, Rep. Rob Menendez Jr., who he says got there through an act of ‘pure nepotism.” He also said he didn’t want to be ‘the guy that does his mom’s thing’ by pursuing the seat his mom vacated.”

ONLY IF THEY DRIVE BELOW 60TH STREET — “Gottheimer: Columbia ‘will pay the price’ if protests aren’t controlled,” by The Hill’s Nick Robertson: “Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) joined a group of Jewish Democrats in a visit to Columbia University on Monday as the school grapples with fiery pro-Palestinian protests on campus that have led to mounting criticism of the university’s leadership from all sides. The Democratic members denounced the protests, which they described as antisemitic, with Gottheimer going a step further and threatening university leadership if action is not taken to reign in the demonstrations. ‘We are all standing here today as Jewish members of Congress to make one thing clear, Jewish students are welcome here at Columbia. And while the leadership of Columbia may be failing you, we will not,’ he said at a press conference from the university on Monday.”

MEANWHILE, VAN DREW INTRODUCES CALLAWAY TO PUTIN TO HELP WITH NEXT ANNEXATION VOTE — “Kean leads delegation to Ukraine after House passes aid package,” by New Jersey Globe’s Joey Fox:: “Fresh off of a House vote approving a major aid bill supporting Ukraine against the ongoing invasion by Russia, Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) led a delegation to Ukraine [Monday] to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. ‘We, on a bipartisan basis as members of Congress, are here for the people of Ukraine,’ Kean told Zelenskyy at the meeting … The aid bill that passed on Saturday, which provides $60 billion to support Ukraine’s war efforts, was a long time in the making.”

— “Bhalla calls on Menendez to co-sponsor bill targeting his father’s access to classified information”

— “Sherrill and Krickus bond over Ukraine”

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LOCAL

WILDWOOD — “Former Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron charged with official misconduct,” by The Press of Atlantic City’s Bill Barlow: “Former Mayor Pete Byron faces fresh charges, including an allegation of official misconduct, state Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said Monday. A state grand jury has returned a new indictment accusing him of abusing his position as mayor to ask for a job from an attorney who held a city contract, then failing to pay state taxes on his earnings from that job … The charges appear to stem from the same job that got Byron into federal hot water. Last year he pleaded guilty to federal tax charges in Camden over failure to report more than $40,000 in income in 2017 and 2018. Court documents cited an unnamed Gloucester County law firm as the source of that income. The state now alleges Byron used his official position as a commissioner to get that job … The state further alleges Byron failed to include the income in financial disclosure forms required of him as a public official.”

PARENTAL RIGHTS SLATE WANTS TO RENAME IT ‘SUS COUNTY’ — “Five candidates crowd race for two spots in GOP Sussex County Commissioner primary,” by The New Jersey Herald’s Bruce A. Scruton: “According to County Clerk Jeff Parrott, the candidates are incumbents Chris Carney and Earl Schick, along with Alan Henderson, Harvey Roseff and Rob Kovic … There are no listed Democrats running in the primary, so it is possible that one or two write-ins could get that party's nomination in November … As an attorney, Kovic represents County Commissioner William Hayden in his lawsuit against fellow commissioners and nearly a dozen other county residents for yet-to-be named actions and seeking damages ‘to be determined as this matter continues.’ Hayden has been censured by his fellow board members for several issues and has faced public scorn for 'stolen valor' by claiming in personal conversations, and possibly official records, to be a veteran. He has not produced any records showing he was in the military and private searches through military channels have reportedly produced no records of enlistment."

AFFAIRS OF THE SACK — “Bergen County Prosecutor's Office takes over Hackensack police internal affairs bureau,” by The Record’s Megan Burrow: “The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office has taken control of the city Police Department’s internal affairs bureau and office of professional standards … [Hackensack Police Director Raymond] Guidetti was hired in August 2022 after a review of the department revealed widespread overtime abuse by ranking officers and a drop in arrests. Since he was appointed, tensions between the city, police leaders and some city police officers have grown. Numerous grievances and lawsuits have been filed against the director, alleging he has abused his authority and claiming improprieties and retaliation against people who have spoken out against him."

SCRATCH THAT — “Groups, activists rally around pro-Palestinian DJ following Hoboken spring fest controversy,” by The Jersey Journal’s Teri West: “Resistance against Hoboken’s administration and the city council is beginning to build after city hall prevented a vote on a contract to hire a DJ to headline a festival over her pro-Palestinian politics, among other concerns. The New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Ceasefire Now NJ activist coalition both said they are planning to publicly challenge the city’s decision, with some comparing the move to McCarthyism-era censorship. The city had drawn up a $20,000 contract to have DJ Rekha, a prominent local Punjabi-American artist, headline its May 19 Spring Arts & Music Festival. The DJ had posted a playlist on Instagram featuring Palestinian artists called “river to the C” in December, and after at least one councilmember said they planned to vote against the contract, Mayor Ravi Bhalla’s administration pulled the contract from the council agenda.”

HOW THE COOKIE FACTORY WILL CRUMBLE — “When will Nabisco's Fair Lawn plant be demolished? After a year of silence, there's news,” by The Record’s Stephanie Noda: “After a year of silence over the fate of the old Nabisco factory in Fair Lawn, borough officials said Monday that the building will be coming down ‘shortly.’ After receiving questions from NorthJersey.com and The Record, the borough updated its website with a two-sentence statement about the Route 208 property: ‘Demolition at the Nabisco site is expected to resume shortly, with state approval. … A non-explosive demolition will be undertaken.’ The news comes almost a year after a planned implosion of the Nabisco tower was postponed amid concerns from neighbors about releasing asbestos or other contaminants into the air.”

— “Bergen County Police Academy has reopened. See what's changed”

— “[Stone Harbor] employee lost promotion because of sexual harassment complaint, lawsuit says”

— “Jersey Shore’s controversial cross-shaped pier to partially reopen”

— “[Midland Park] mom sues, saying school district failed to stop bullying”

— “Jersey City councilman calls for HCDO-backed colleagues to cast votes against the ‘county line’”

EVERYTHING ELSE

NJ GETS ANOTHER BITE AT THE APPLE — “This snake had disappeared for half a century in New Jersey. It’s back,’ by The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Frank Kummer: “It took Jeff Dragon about an hour and a half of clomping through muck and woods to find something that’s been missing in New Jersey for almost 50 years: a queen snake … ‘I was so excited I was hyperventilating,’ said Dragon, a herpetologist for the state’s Pinelands Commission … The queen snake, last verified as present in the state in 1977, or 47 years ago, is listed as endangered by the state and many believed it extirpated, meaning it was thought to no longer exist in New Jersey, until Dragon’s find on April 14.”

— “New Brunswick man arrested, accused of damaging Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University”

— “Deans at Rutgers’ two medical schools discuss proposed merger”

— “Cleaners at American Dream fired for union activity must be rehired, NLRB says”

— “Jon Bon Jovi talks new docuseries, vocal struggles, cruising with Springsteen”

— “N.J.’s Kool & the Gang on joining Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: ‘It’s about time’”

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