The two lobbying groups who spent big money on campaign ads during the race for governor were funded primarily by just two entities, according to reports filed with the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC): a major labor union and the Democratic Governors Association.
New Jersey Progress, which registered with ELEC as a grassroots lobbying organization, spent $2.15 million on New Jersey “communications expenses” – mostly media buys.
NJ Progress was funded by $1.35 million from the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), $500,000 from the Democratic Governors Association, $400,000 from the Mid-Atlantic Leadership Fund (which also bought media ads on its own), $50,000 from the District Council of North Jersey NJ Ironworkers PAC fund, and $50,000 from former Texas Lt. Governor and lobbyist Ben Barnes.
The Mid-Atlantic Leadership Fund spent $1.63 million on communications. It also registered as a grassroots lobbying organization. The bulk of their funds — $1.45 million – came from the Democratic Governors Association, while $400,000 came from AFSCME and $500,000 came from the Laborers’ Political League.
The Mid-Atlantic Leadership Fund made headlines for purchasing air time attacking Christopher Christie during his primary race against Steve Lonegan.
The Laborers’ Political League is the PAC for the Laborers’ International Union, where Corzine Campaign Manager and Deputy Chief of Staff Maggie Moran now serves as director of business development for the eastern region
“We’re delighted that these groups filed as grassroots lobbying organizations so that people can see the disclosure, but this it the type of situation where they’re more like 527 groups, and that was information that we’d like to see reported prior to the election,” said ELEC Executive Director Jeffrey Brindle.
Brindle said that he hopes the legislature will consider laws forcing disclosure of donors from 527 groups.
