Published February 9th, 2008 in Atlantic City Press
By: Emily Previti
Two Republicans battling to succeed U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton have started the
year far behind their Democratic challenger.
State Sen. John Adler, D-Camden, has raised more than $600,000 since he
launched his campaign in September, while Republican contenders Jack Kelly and Chris Myers say they had not raised $5,000 before the end of the year, despite making known their intention to run shortly after Saxton, R-3rd, announced his retirement Nov. 9.
Under Federal Election Commission regulations, a person does not have to
file quarterly reports before he or she has spent more than $5,000. Myers and Kelly would have had to hit that threshold before the end of 2007 to be required to file financial reports by the most recent Jan. 31 deadline.
Political contributors often want proof that candidates have support before they open their checkbooks.
Kelly, an Ocean County freeholder, and Myers, mayor of Medford Township,
each say they've since raised at least $150,000, but they haven't reported anything to the FEC.
Kelly said he's following FEC guidelines and contended reporters, not
voters, care about fundraising.
"The voters are going to care about the message, and the money is only used to get the message out," Kelly said.
Myers, vice-president of business development at Lockheed Martin, has not talked about his fundraising totals other than to say he's doing well. By
the time he officially declared his candidacy Jan. 10, he had reportedly amassed more than the $150,000 Kelly collected by then.
Kelly said Thursday supporters have committed $150,000, of which $100,000 was on-hand, but some has been spent.
Myers said Thursday he thinks Adler should have raised more than $630,000 so far, given that Adler started soliciting funds six months ago and transferred more than $190,000 from his last state campaign.
Adler's amount of cash on hand is third-highest among U.S. House candidates in races for open or vacant seats, according to a ranking by CQ Politics.
Adler's fundraising accomplishment signifies that "people are responding to our positive message of change," said Raiyan Sayed, his campaign manager.
"It gives you an idea of the support we're building," Sayed said. "The resources we have, whether its volunteers or (funds), allows us get our message of affordable health care, better-paying jobs . out to the voters in Ocean County and Burlington County and Cherry Hill."
Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, said the next deadline, April 15, would be late for Kelly and Myers to file their first financial reports, "especially if you're facing a Democrat with a huge war chest."
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokeswoman Carrie James said she was surprised that Kelly and Myers did not start fundraising sooner, given that Philadelphia is "the third most expensive media market . behind Chicago and New York."
Zelizer conceded that the media pays more attention than voters to candidates' coffers. But he also pointed out that people are indirectly affected by fundraising activities because moving money piques the media's interest.
"If you can come out with a report that shows you've raised a lot of money, it will increase perception of . you as someone who can seriously challenge the Democrat," Zelizer said. "Even if Citizen X isn't thinking about how much money (candidates) are raising, they're going to read a story that says, 'Look at how much they're raising or aren't able to raise,' so I think it's incorrect to say that it's not a factor."
Money used to simply explore the possibility of running for office doesn't count until the person decides to run or does things to indicate he or she is actively campaigning, according to FEC guidelines.
Kelly accepted the endorsement of the Ocean County Republican Party Dec. 19 after he and Myers were interviewed by the county party screening committee the weekend before. FEC guidelines do not stipulate whether endorsement seeking or acceptance constitutes an activity that steps over the line into official candidacy.
For that to even matter, however, Kelly or Myers would have had to raise or spend more than $5,000 before Dec. 31 to be bound to report fundraising activities in time for the 2007 fourth quarter filing deadline. Kelly and Myers said Thursday they've followed the law.
Other Republicans pursuing the nomination are Justin Murphy, a businessman based in Tabernacle Township, and Suzanne Penna, a Berkeley Township resident who ran against Kelly in the primary for freeholder in June 2007. Neither Penna nor Murphy has filed statements of candidacy or financial reports with the FEC.
