Politics & Government
CORRECTION: GOP Outraising, Outspending Democrats in Council Race
There's a wide financial chasm between the Republicans and Democrats running for Moorestown council, but both parties say it's not about the money.
CORRECTION: The joint committee report for the Newcomer-Sattinger-Hines team shows the candidates have raised a total of $7,245—$3,325 from contributions of $300 or less, and $3,920 from contributions exceeding $300—and includes an itemized list of several of their donors.
The 29-day pre-election report also indicates the candidates have spent $4,870 (as of Oct. 12), all of it on advertising, including with Patch.
Patch apologizes for the errors included in the prior version of this story.
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As of earlier this month, the Republican candidates for Moorestown council had out-fundraised their Democratic counterparts by almost 3 to 1 and outspent them by a 5-to-1 margin, according to campaign finance reports.
According to the 29-day pre-election report filed by the Republican committee, the GOP candidates—Phil Garwood, Victoria Napolitano and Pete Palko—had received $31,920 in contributions, plus an infusion of $6,736 from a previous campaign. They’d spent $23,316, primarily on advertising (including ads with Patch), promotional materials and consulting.
On the other side of the aisle, the Democratic candidates—Greg Newcomer, Brian Sattinger and Mark Hines—individually raised $6,775, according to reports they filed separately, with each candidate individually raising between $2,100-$2,400. A joint committee report filed by the Democrats showed they raised $7,245 collectively—for a total of $14,020 raised between all four reports—and spent $4,870, all of it on advertising.
Democratic campaign manager Francine Cartwright said the candidates knew they’d be at a disadvantage financially speaking in such a heavily Republican town, so they focused their efforts elsewhere.
“That’s why we were busy trying to meet people, instead of it being a campaign about how many fliers we can get out or how many ads we can place online or in the newspaper,” she said. “Ours is a ground campaign.”
GOP campaign manager Steve Solomon also downplayed the significance of the numbers in determining the outcome of the election.
“It’s all about knocking (on doors),” he said. “We’re at over 4,000 knocks right now.”
He acknowledged the party’s cash flow is “nice” because of what it allows the campaign to do.
“It gives us billing recognition … flexibility. If we need something, we can go out and get it,” Solomon explained.
According to Solomon, the fundraising for this election, while impressive, hasn’t matched the amount of money the Gallo-Button-Testa ticket raised during the 2008 election.
“This is a fresh group of candidates, with really no record to run on,” Solomon said of this year’s Republican slate. “.”
To view the campaign finance reports, visit the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission website, click on “View a Report,” and then “View a Candidate or Committee Report” and search for the candidates by name. To find the Democratic candidates' joint committee report, leave "Candidate Name" and "Committee Name" blank and search by location (Moorestown Township), Party Affilitation (Democrat), Election Type (General) and Year (2012).
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