Remington & Vernick Engineers Inc. was the largest donor among contractors, with $512,550, followed by T&M Associates with $366,880, Alaimo Group with $345,500, Pennoni Associates Inc. with $317,729 and CME Associates with $316,710, the NJ Election Law Commission reported.
James Nash reports for NorthJersey.com
After reporting that engineering firms and other contractors put $9.4 million into campaigns last year, the state’s campaign-finance watchdog — usually quick to advocate tougher rules on political spending — called on lawmakers to loosen the rules intended to prevent contractors from donating in exchange for contracts.
The $9.4 million sum, while the highest since the last gubernatorial election in 2013, is still low enough to suggest that contractors are evading “pay to play” laws by directing their political spending into harder-to-track independent groups that spend millions without directly coordinating with candidates, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.
Such independent groups spent $47.5 million in last year’s election, the commission said in a separate report, dwarfing the total spent by state parties and legislative leadership committees.
State law bars most firms with state contracts worth more than $17,500 from contributing more than $300 to candidates for governor as well as county and state political parties. Firms that exceed the limit must either get their money back or forfeit their public contracts for four years.
The $9.4 million sum from engineering, construction and law firms and other contractors was lower than most years since 2007, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. Spending by contractors peaked at $16.4 million in 2007, according to commission data.
The largest beneficiary of the contractors’ largesse last year was state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, a Gloucester Democrat and ironworkers’ union leader who was defending his seat against a challenge funded largely by the state teachers’ union. Gov. Phil Murphy was only the sixth-largest recipient of contractor money, the state regulators found.
