A Washington super PAC just dropped mailers in the Paterson school board race
PATERSON — The city's low-key school board election has caught the attention of America's Future First, a federal super PAC with a Washington, D.C., post office box as its mailing address.
The super PAC sent out a mailer to Paterson residents this past week urging them to vote for incumbent Vincent Arrington and Della McCall, who are running as a team, in the Nov. 8 election.
“I’m shocked,” McCall told a reporter on Thursday when asked about the mailer. “I didn’t know anything about it.”
Arrington said he had heard that such a mailer was coming out but that he never spoke with anyone at the super PAC.
When asked why the group was backing him and McCall, Arrington said: “They believe in our values and what we stand for. We stand for the children of Paterson.”
More coverage:Why has the election for Paterson's Board of Education been so quiet?
But other candidates in the election said they see the mailer as an example of political leaders intruding in the school board contest.
“I don’t understand why a super PAC would be sending out a flyer like that,” said candidate Valerie Freeman. “I’m all grassroots. I don’t have a horse like that behind me dishing out big money for me.”
Another candidate, incumbent Corey Teague, noted that state-level political action committees have backed Paterson school candidates in the past and were not always successful. Teague pointed to his 2019 victory after the Progressive Values PAC, based in Hudson County, paid for mailings and billboards for his opponents.
“People can read through these things,” Teague said. “They’re not going to vote a certain way just because of a mailer. Paterson residents know who cares about their kids and will vote accordingly.”
It’s not clear exactly how much America’s Future First spent on the Paterson school election. The group did not respond to a phone message seeking information about the mailing.
The group’s most recent federal finance report does not list any spending on the Paterson race. That report, filed in mid-October, said the super PAC has spent about $46,000 so far this year.
Political committees are required to report any spending in New Jersey local elections with the state’s election commission. So far, the group has not filed any reports for 2022.
In 2020, America’s Future First reported spending $7,936 on Paterson’s school board election, $7,554 on Atlantic City’s mayoral election, $5,547 on Atlantic City’s school board election, $13,088 on the West Orange Township Council election and $9,821 on the Bayonne school board election.
The New Jersey Globe news blog has reported that America’s Future First is controlled by Ryan Graham, son of Democratic National Committeeman John F.X. Graham, founder of Fairview Insurance Agency Associates.
Fairview received $1.7 million in government contracts in New Jersey in 2019, according to the pay-to-play report the company filed with state election officials. The largest of those contracts was for $201,000 with Passaic County, the report said.
Fairview also reported to the state election commission that it did insurance work involving the Paterson Board of Education, for which it received commissions from insurance carriers. The report did not say exactly how much Fairview made from its Paterson school board work.
Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press.
Email: editor@patersonpress.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ Board of Education race noticed by Washington super PAC
