Asselta: "We try to give the contributors more of a bang for their buck."State races spark a fund-raising free-for-all - With entire Legislature up for re-election, candidates try to build war chests STAR-LEDGER STAFF There are pig roasts and cocktail parties. Cigar nights and karaoke. Lobster and oysters with talk-show host Kelly Ripa. Golf outings with faded sports stars and, yes, chicken dinners - all at prices ranging from $100 to $2,500. The entire New Jersey Legislature is up for re-election Nov. 4 and control is within each party's grasp. With several crucial races expected to cost upward of $2 million each, a knock-down stampede for dollars is under way, with nearly twice as many fund-raisers this month as there are days. "It's been astronomical. I mean, the pressure's just been great, all over the place," veteran Trenton lobbyist John Torok said. "Every election I say, 'More than the time before,' but it's even more this year." Already the parties have raised staggering sums. As of June 30, candidates, the two state party committees and the four legislative leaders' political action committees had raised $39 million for the primary and general elections. For Torok and other lobbyists, it has become a daily vexation. Fund-raising consultants send him invitations. The candidates call. Aides e-mail reminders. "Every day, faxing, e-mails, mailings, telephone calls, saying, 'We need you there,'" Torok said. Another Trenton lobbyist, John Indyk, said he took a call recently from Sen. William Gormley's fund-raising consultant. She didn't just urge Indyk to pony up for Gormley's $500 country-club cocktail fete, but also for Sen. Robert Singer's (R-Ocean) $500 birthday bash. And Assemblyman David Wolfe's (R-Ocean) $200 reception. And Assemblyman Ron Dancer's (R-Ocean) $200 pub night. Total cost: $1,400. When the final checks are collected in November, the 2003 money chase will set a record. The most raised in a midterm election was $25.3 million in 1991. Lawmakers say they're raising so much more money because it costs so much more to campaign. A decade ago, a legislative candidate rarely went on network television. Now, a challenger with a real chance is almost required to run a series of TV ads. Two Democratic challengers - Ellen Karcher, running against Republican Senate Co-President John Bennett in the 12th District, and Anthony "Skip" Cimino, running against Sen. Peter Inverso (R-Mercer) in the 14th - already are on the air. "It just requires a lot more than it used to," Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) said. Democrats hold the governorship and the Assembly and share power with the Republicans in the evenly divided Senate. And as befits their dominance, Democrats expect to have a commanding lead as crunch time arrives in the last week of October. The party's fund-raising machine had out-stripped the Republicans' by a nearly 2-1 margin through the first six months of the year, raising $25.4 million to the GOP's $13.7 million. Individuals and businesses may give $2,200 to a candidate committee and $25,000 to the state parties or political action committees controlled by the legislature's top leaders. But much of the money is raised in smaller chunks, amounts dictated by a candidate's place in the political pecking order. Cocktails with Assemblyman Peter Eagler (D-Passaic)? $300. Cigars with Senate candidate John Kelly? $200. An evening with Skip Cimino? $1,000. Karaoke with Assemblywoman Rose Heck (R-Bergen)? $500. Spending a happy hour with Gov. James E. McGreevey at the law firm of Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione costs $500. Breakfast with the Assembly majority leader, Joseph Roberts (D-Camden), is twice that - $1,000. For $850, you could have cozied up to Roberts and the rest of the Camden County Democratic crew at Tavistock Country Club in Haddonfield last week. On a perfect late summer night under a harvest moon, 700 guests in suits and heels mingled, picked at lobsters and oysters and searched the crowd for Kelly Ripa, the guest of honor. The talk show host from "Live with Regis and Kelly" is a Camden County native whose father, Joseph, is a running for county freeholder. Mobbed from start to finish, she signed autographs, smiled and schmoozed. But if anyone felt like they were at a Hollywood A-list party, Joseph Ripa reminded them of the task at hand during his remarks. "Did everybody pay?" he asked. He was only half-joking. For all the cocktail parties, the galas and the receptions, one event is guaranteed to bring out the top- dollar donors: the golf tournament. People are forking over $1,500 to play a round today at the Essex County Country Club with former heavyweight Gerry Cooney, comedian Joe Piscopo and former Yankee catcher Rick Cerone - all to benefit Senate co- President Richard Codey's campaign committee. It's $2,500 to play in Bennett's golf invitational today at Due Process Stables, once owned by high- flying financier Robert Brennan. Last week, lobbyists shelled out $700 each for an afternoon of golf at Cherry Valley Country Club in Skillman, face time with Assembly Speaker Albio Sires (D-Hudson) and - they hope - good will the next time the Legislature meets. In a spoof on the golf-and-greenbacks theme, Weinberg hosted a miniature golf outing in Bogota this past summer. An adult and two kids got in for $37. Sponsors got their name plastered on a plastic golf cart for $50. Dinner amounted to hot dogs and hamburgers, pizza and ice cream. She treated kids to a magic act. And then there's Assemblyman Nicholas Asselta (R-Cumberland). Bored with the tried-and-true, cocktail-and-dinner fund-raiser, Asselta and a dozen backers flew to Rio Mar Beach Resort and Golf Club in Puerto Rico in January for three days of golf on sunny courses that skirt both ocean and mountains. (Apparently, the golf was a bit more memorable than the amount collected. He said he cannot remember the take, but said that "it wasn't a hugely profitable event.") Why such lengths for a few thousand dollars? "We try to give the contributors more of a bang for their buck," Asselta said.
|