XPost: alt.sodomites.barack-obama, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns   
   From: kclanton@union.crimes   
      
   The sweeping Elections Transparency Act was sold by Trenton's ruling   
   Democrats as a necessary revision of New Jersey's outdated campaign   
   finance system.   
      
   It would beam, for the first time, the purifying light of transparency   
   onto some of New Jersey's dark money groups, the law's advocates   
   contended. Complicated "pay-to-play" laws that bedeviled contractors for   
   years would be streamlined. And donor limits would be increased to reflect   
   the rising costs of running elections.   
      
   But the law also had another brass-tacks purpose. It provided New Jersey's   
   Democrats, who hold majorities in both the Assembly and the state Senate,   
   with significant cash to steamroll their Republican rivals. That proved   
   enough to crush the GOP's hopes of expanding its foothold in Trenton — and   
   maybe regaining majority control — after spending two decades on the   
   sidelines of power.   
      
   The Democratic Party enjoyed a lopsided advantage in most of the six   
   competitive contests that dominated each party's fundraising and attention   
   this fall, according to an examination of election filings released this   
   week by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. Campaigns are   
   required to submit reports 20 days after the election.   
      
   NJ Democrats reaped dividends — and then some   
   It was an investment that yielded an important dividend for the Democrats,   
   who had entered the fall contest concerned that their long hold on power   
   was beginning to ebb or, worse, could be washed away in a Republican wave.   
   It didn't happen.   
      
   Instead of losing ground, the Democrats expanded their control of the   
   Assembly by flipping six seats, while holding their 10-seat margin in the   
   state Senate. In six of the most hotly contested races — which drew most   
   of each party's money and focus — the Democratic candidates and their   
   accounts poured close to $11 million into the contests, compared with   
   about $4 million by Republicans, records show.   
      
   That does not include millions more spent by super PACs and other   
   independent expenditure groups, which raise money under looser guidelines   
   and are not permitted to coordinate with the candidates' campaigns. A   
   summary of outside spending is expected to be released by ELEC later this   
   week.   
      
   But the outside spending role — which included the financing of phony   
   "phantom candidates" linked to the South Jersey Democratic Party machine —   
   more than likely tilted the Democrats' advantage even further.   
      
   'Dark money': Disputed election overhaul bill that would expose donors   
   passes NJ Legislature   
      
   An unsurprising edge   
   To some, the Democratic edge comes as no surprise.   
      
   The new Elections Transparency Act allowed for the doubling of campaign   
   contributions for individual candidates and the tripling of large   
   donations to state and county party accounts. That alone, some observers   
   said, made it inevitable that the party that controls both houses of the   
   Legislature and the governor's office would reap the windfall. It's the   
   party that controls the fate of coveted legislation and lucrative   
   government contracts.   
      
   "Some of the senators were saying, 'Well, look, this will help us; we'll   
   be able to raise money throughout the four years,' " said Senate   
   Republican leader Anthony Bucco Jr. of Morris County, who voted against   
   the Elections Transparency Act for a variety of reasons. "To me, it was   
   absolutely clear that this was not going to benefit Republicans. It was   
   going to benefit the Democrats, because they're the party in power."   
      
   And with that money comes the ability to saturate mailboxes and media   
   markets with political advertising and drown out campaigns with lesser   
   means. That was the case in the competitive 11th Legislative District in   
   Monmouth, where state Sen. Vin Gopal was viewed as the most endangered   
   Democrat.   
      
   Charlie Stile: Dark money disclosures in NJ elections are a 'work in   
   progress.' Will they work?   
      
   Gopal hung on to his seat in the 2021 contest while his two Assembly   
   running mates lost. This time, Gopal found himself in the cross-currents   
   of culture war issues. Several Monmouth County school systems (although   
   outside his own district) were engulfed in a firestorm over "parental   
   rights" involving transgender students while opponents of Gov. Phil   
   Murphy's push to build offshore wind farms had also infuriated many Jersey   
   Shore residents.   
      
   Gopal, whose district includes Asbury Park and Long Branch, distanced   
   himself from both of those issues. But he also had a full Democratic Party   
   effort behind him, including unions, independent attack ads from a group   
   aligned with state Senate President Nick Scutari, and a lopsided   
   fundraising advantage.   
      
   Gopal and his Assembly running mates, Luanne Peterpaul and Margie Donlon,   
   amassed $3.7 million compared with $739,000 raised by Republican state   
   Senate challenger Steve Dnistrian and GOP Assembly incumbents Marilyn   
   Piperno and Kim Eulner. In the end, Gopal won by 16 points and swept in   
   Peterpaul and Donlon on his coattails.   
      
   GOP 'ran out of juice' as labor donations surged   
      
   Ironically, it seemed over the summer that the fury over parental rights,   
   which Republicans sought to harness, was looming as a frightening threat   
   to Democrats. Some feared that it had the ability to attract moderate   
   Democrats and independents and older voters, who tend to have a larger   
   presence in low-turnout elections. But in the end, the Republicans simply   
   didn't have enough money to communicate for the long haul of the race.   
      
   Republicans "ran out of juice," said Micah Rasmussen, director of the   
   Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University. "They   
   couldn't drive that message through the fall. And the Democrats knew they   
   were gonna pour it on and the Republicans wouldn't be able to."   
      
   Unions — already generous donors to free-wheeling super PACs and big   
   spenders in their own right — took advantage of the Elections Transparency   
   Act, which doubled what unions could give directly to candidates, from   
   $2,600 to $5,200, and through their PACs, from $8,200 to $16,400.   
      
   Labor's increased largesse, not surprisingly, benefited the Democrats.   
      
   Gopal collected the maximum $16,400 from several union PACs: Greater New   
   Jersey Carpenters, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 456 and   
   269, the New Jersey Laborers, and IBEW Local 400, State Electrical   
   Workers, where Gopal is a member. Gopal's ticket also benefited from the   
   get-out-the-vote manpower of the Service Employees International Union,   
   which bused in canvassers from their locals in New York.   
      
   In the 3rd Legislative District, in Salem, Gloucester and Cumberland   
   counties, state Sen.-elect John Burzichelli, D-Paulsboro, drew $127,000   
   from unions and union PACs — or $35,800 more than he could have collected   
   under the previous lower limits.   
      
   A day after the election, Scutari hailed the Elections Transparency Act   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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