Candidates qualify for ‘clean election’ funds

Assembly, Senate hopefuls receive at least 400 $10 donations in state experiment

By: Paul Koepp
   Clean elections may be here to stay, as 15 of the 20 candidates participating in the state’s experiment in public financing for campaigns — including all local Republican and Democratic legislative candidates — have passed the initial test of receiving at least 400 $10 donations.
   A minimum of nine of the candidates had to reach the mark to make the program a "success," ensuring it will be continued in future elections.
   All six of the major-party candidates in the 14th District — which includes West Windsor and Plainsboro — qualified with plenty of time to spare before the Sept. 30 deadline.
   Three of the state’s 40 legislative districts are taking part in the program, including the Republican-controlled 24th District (Sussex, Hunterdon and Morris counties) and the 37th District (Bergen County), controlled by Democrats. In the 14th, which straddles Middlesex and Mercer counties and is the only district in the program considered competitive, candidates can receive $46,000 in public funds for collecting 400 contributions and up to $526,375 for collecting 800.
   In reports filed July 5, all three Republican candidates in the 14th District reported contributions in excess of their top goal of 800. Senate candidate Assemblyman Bill Baroni, of Hamilton, had 807 contributions, and Assembly candidates Adam Bushman, of Jamesburg, and Hamilton Councilman Tom Goodwin had 821 and 832 respectively.
   In a July 11 filing, Democratic Senate candidate Seema Singh, of South Brunswick, reported 925 contributions. Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, of Plainsboro, who is seeking re-election, reported 877 on July 18, and her running mate, Wayne DeAngelo, of Hamilton, reported 798 on Aug. 15.
   The two Libertarian Party candidates in the 14th District, Jason Scheurer and Ray Cragle, fell short of qualifying as of an Aug. 14 filing with 144 and four contributions respectively.
   The only other candidates who have not reached the 400-contribution mark were the three Republicans in the 37th District — Senate candidate Clara Nibot and Assembly candidates Frank Cifarelli and Wojciech Siemaszkiewicz. The candidates still have until Sept. 30 to qualify, but they had to do so by Aug. 17 to have the slogan "clean elections candidate" next to their names on the ballot.
   The Democrats who qualified in the 37th District are state Sen. Loretta Weinberg and Assembly candidates Gordon Johnson and Valerie Vainieri Huttle.
   In the 24th District, Republicans Steven Oroho, who is running for re-election to the Senate, and Assembly candidates Alison Littell McHose and Gary Chiusano and Democrats Edwin Selby, running for Senate, and Assembly candidates Patrick Walsh and Toni Zimmer have qualified.