June 16, 2004

BY JOSH DAVIDSON
Staff Writer

A bill passed by the state Senate and Assembly last week may level political campaign spending in legislative District 13.

The New Jersey Fair and Clean Elections Pilot Project will establish a temporary program for the public financing of election campaigns for candidates seeking election to the Assembly in 2005.

The bill was passed by the Assembly by a vote of 52-18-9 and the Senate 26-11 June 10.

The bill targets six voting districts statewide, including District 13 where incumbent assemblymen Joseph Azzolina, Middletown, and Samuel Thompson, Old Bridge, defeated in the November election Democratic challengers Thomas Perry, an Aberdeen Township councilman and Leonard Inzerillo, a member of the Middletown Board of Education.

In a clean election district, candidates would be required to raise a certain amount of funding for their campaigns through small group contributions that would be matched by the state, Inzerillo said.

Incumbent candidates would not have a financial advantage during an election campaign, under the pilot program, because they would not receive excessive financial backing from large special interest groups. Clean election districts would "level the playing field" and provide a fair opportunity for all candidates to advertise themselves to the public, Inzerillo said.

"We all know that the biggest part of a campaign is the more money you have, the more you can advertise and get the word out," he said.

Inzerillo and Perry came close to beating their opponents last year with about $20,000 raised and spent on their campaigns. The campaign of Azzolina and Thompson involved considerably more money, Inzerillo said.

If Inzerillo and Perry had enough money for one more advertising push, they would have won the race, Inzerillo said.

The pilot project is intended for political candidates to take the focus off fund raising and put it on the campaign issues. The act requires candidates to participate in live debates, Perry said.

"Generally, the ones who have the greater campaign chest can get their information out there and influence the public for right or wrong," he said.

The bill embraces some of the same ethical reforms Perry and Inzerillo addressed during their campaigns, Perry said.

The bill addresses pay-to-play where big campaign contributors are awarded government contracts for the contributions. The bill calls for an information committee to review pay-to-play issues and limiting the number of candidate contributors, he said.