Campaign spending by school board candidates expected to surpass last year's. See why

Money matters, even in New Jersey's small, once-sleepy school board races.

With voters divided by deep ideological differences about politics, school board candidates are spending more money to secure votes. Overall spending on state school board races this year is expected to surpass last year's.

School board candidates have spent $710,248 as of Thursday, according to the latest information filed with the New Jersey State Election Law Enforcement Commission. That number is expected to rise.

In 2021, board candidates spent $796,102 statewide which reflects totals for spring and fall school board races. All but 13 of the school races are held in November.

“Looking at totals for both spring and fall elections, it seems likely that spending by school board candidates will top 2021 totals," said Joe Donohue, spokesperson for the ELEC, though totals raised by candidates between 2017 and 2020 were higher, around a million dollars.

The totals do not reflect spending by independent expenditure committees, which have no limit and can support campaigns as long as they do not directly coordinate with candidates or advocate for them. Spending by these groups, which have access to much larger donors and fund-raising capabilities, can make all the difference to a campaign.

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In 2021, total spending by school board candidates and independent expenditure committees was $1.3 million, far more than what candidates raised or spent on their own. And these larger, external groups are not always clear about which campaigns or races benefit from their funding.

The totals for all candidates and committees for 2022 are not yet available.

There are also more candidates running for open seats in 2021 and 2022 compared to the two previous years, said Janet Bamford, a spokesperson for the New Jersey School Boards Association. There are nearly 1.36 candidates per open seat in the past two years, compared to 1.2 candidates in the two years before.

Special interest committees operate independently of candidates, said Donohue. "Their election-related spending varies year-to-year. Some are clearer than others about whether they are spending on school board elections,” he said.

Another issue influencing this year's races is partisanship.

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Partisan interests have historically driven races in urban districts such as Jersey City and Camden. The state's largest teachers' union and one of the Murphy administration's biggest donors, the New Jersey Education Association, has historically been a big spender in elections. Though it donates much more money to state and legislative races than to school board candidates, it has increasingly taken on the role of "fire-fighting" during the last two election cycles to tackle the backlash against the union's alleged liberal platform and support for state sex education mandates.

The NJEA’s independent expenditure committee, Garden State Forward, spent $205,342.88 on direct mail, according to an October filing.

But culture wars have also brought partisan politics and spending into smaller school district races.

School board elections are supposed to be non-partisan, but there has been an increasing trend of politics driving November races, according to the New Jersey School Boards Association. It grew even more pronounced over the past two elections as battles over curriculum, race, sexual orientation and mask and vaccine mandates began driving people, many of whom were new to the role, to run for school boards.

Nationally, the GOP has used cultural conflicts playing out in education to drive voters. Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist under former President Donald Trump, has said the path to save the nation is with education.

National-level PACs that build on these culture wars have funded school board races in other states, but it is not clear which ones are playing a role in New Jersey. The American Principles Project, a PAC which aims to defend the "American family" and opposes "woke" leftist values, said it focused on state and federal races this election cycle but none in New Jersey. It supported school board races in Polk County, Florida, said spokesperson Paul Dupont.

Most of New Jersey's elected Republicans, barring moderates like state Sen. Jon Bramnick, R-Union, appear to have hitched their wagon to Bannon's strategy, accusing the state of indoctrinating and sexualizing school children, and supporting "parental rights" groups that endorse school board candidates and canvas for Republicans voters. State Democrats have not adopted this approach, and have distanced themselves, though organizations associated with them have supported school races.

We looked at board races and some spenders, including candidates, their supporters, and independent groups:

Perth Amboy school race spending

The Middlesex County Democratic Organization donated $21,966 as "in-kind" donations for three candidates running as a joint committee called Moving Our Education Forward. The donations were made in the form of "event food and planning," according to an Oct. 31 filing. Candidates receiving donations that exceed $1,900 during the 13 days before the election have to file a report disclosing it within 48 hours. The candidates are Luis Mart, Joas Quiles, and Jasmin Melendez.

Sparta's 17 school board candidates

In Sparta, 17 candidates are running for six open seats. The Sussex County school district is often divided over issues and differing political ideologies. Candidate Lauren Collier, running on the Students First slate with Kurt Morris and Leigh McMicheal raised $1,900 according to a filing in October. There was a $500 donation from Andrew Mulvihill. Mulvihill's address and employer were not listed, as is required by law, but additional information was included in an amendment filed with the commission.

Andrew Mulvihill is also the name of the former vice president of the New Jersey State Board of Education, an unelected volunteer board that advises the state's commissioner of education on policy matters. Mulvihill was a co-author on an unofficial letter that was leaked to the press earlier this year, criticizing controversial changes made to sex education standards in 2020 under the leadership of the acting commissioner of the state's Department of Education, Angelica Allen-McMillan. Collier, the Sparta Students First candidate, confirmed that the donation came from Mulvihill, the former board member.

Mulvihill donated a total of $1,000 to the Students First Slate on Sept 1, while he was a sitting board member.

The sex education standards have been a big driver in school board races, pitting those who support them against those who don't. Mulvihill was one of three state board members who opposed the standards. They were all replaced on Sept. 29, a move criticized widely by Republicans as retaliatory. The three were among 11 board members occupying expired terms on the 13-member state board.

Another group of candidates running on the "Advocating for All" slate spent $2,218.30 as of Oct. 9 on fundraising events and other costs, according to filings by candidate and treasurer Kaitlin Gagnon. The slate also said it supports the state's sex education mandates at a public forum in October. Their opponents, the "Students First" group, which received the contribution from Mulvihill, does not state a clear position on sex education on its website and none of its candidates attended the public forum.

Other spending

Campaign for Great Camden Schools spent $53,766 between August and September on three candidates linked with Democrat Donald Norcross according to images posted on the trio’s Facebook page.  The filing was made on Oct. 15 for money spent on political canvassing, media handouts, flyers, palm cards, canvassing literature and printing, among other expenses.

Some of the largest spending for Tuesday's election directly by candidates is in Jersey City with $45,000 and Union at $27,000, according to activity between June 25 and Oct 7.

The Jersey Rising PAC run by Republican Phil Rizzo, described as an "anti-woke" and "pro-family values" group conducted a day-long telethon to raise funds for school board races in September. The group said it would support school board candidates "directly" in its mission “to marshal conservative activists behind outsider candidates" in races across New Jersey. However, it did not list donations to any school board races this election cycle. According to an October filing it owes $4,250 in debts to media companies, including $1,000 to RightLife Media LLC, a Republican content creation outfit for social media management and rebranding.

In September the NJEA PAC donated $3,000 to candidates in Ringwood, running on the 'Expect More' slate and opposing three candidates running on a parental rights platform.

The same filing shows that the NJEA PAC also donated $1,500 to three school board candidates in Old Bridge.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Here's how much school board candidates are spending in 2022