Democrats ponder financing in post-Corzine world

A week after the election, Democrats in New Jersey are wondering how to live in a post-Corzine world.

Since 2000, Gov. Corzine has spent at least $190 million of his own money on Democratic races - three of his own and dozens of others. And by largely funding his own U.S. Senate run and two gubernatorial campaigns, he allowed donors to concentrate on other races.

But with Corzine's loss Nov. 3, Democrats must figure out how to survive without a multimillionaire at the head of the party.

"We had a very wealthy governor, and a lot of us got lazy," said State Sen. Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester). "So now it's going back to small donors. President Obama proved it could happen."

Corzine's departure follows a year-to-year drop in party donations, as tougher rules restricting contributions came into play. Party leaders say they understand the challenge ahead.

"Our party's got a self-evaluation to do: How do we finance, and how do we do campaigns statewide?" said Chairman Joseph Cryan, also a Union County assemblyman.

On the other side, Republicans are likely to become more competitive. They are feeling emboldened by the 100,000-vote victory this month of Gov.-elect Christopher J. Christie over Corzine, a former Goldman Sachs chief executive officer. With one of their own in the governor's office, Republicans will have a better chance of raising money than they have had in years.

"A lot of people want to be part of the winning team and our fund-raising, we expect, will reflect that," said party Chairman Jay Webber, also a Morris County assemblyman.

"To get anything done in Trenton, there are three numbers that matter: 41, 21 and 1. To have the 1 is a huge deal," said Rider University political scientist Ben Dworkin. The 41 is the majority in the Assembly to pass bills and the 21 is the Senate majority; the 1 is probably the biggest of all - the governor's office.

"The governor of New Jersey makes every appointment, appoints every judge above the municipal level, all the members of boards and commissions. He has huge authority and people who want to curry favor on these kinds of decisions will contribute," said Dworkin, hastening to add it's not illegal to donate, just helpful.

Like Democrats, Republicans saw a drop in donations.

However, even in a tight economy and with tough contribution rules that could inhibit fund-raising, Webber says he thinks Republicans could successfully challenge Democrats for legislative seats, especially after district lines are redrawn following the census.

Contributions in New Jersey are capped ranging from $2,600 for donations to candidates and $37,000 for donations to county committees. Anyone contributing more than $300 to a gubernatorial candidate and state and county parties, as well as legislative leadership political action committees, could lose the chance to get a state contract.

Without a millionaire at the top and because they were out of power, Republicans have raised small dollar amounts from a shrinking pool of donors.

As it looks to the future, Cryan insists his Democratic Party is still strong.

Democrats control both houses of the state Legislature, eight of the state's 13 congressional seats and both U.S. Senate seats.

And, they have a dramatic registration edge over Republicans. There are 1.8 million registered Democrats to one million Republicans. Though many of the state's 2.4 million independents voted with Republicans last week, they have generally favored Democrats.

Democratic Party leaders also are now trying to figure out how to relate to Christie, who was elected with a promise he'd cut taxes, but not saying exactly how.

"How we respond to the governor will be defining for our party," Cryan said. "That's something in front of us."

On the table is whether to be a party that goes along to get along or works towards compromise without sacrificing its own agenda, he said.

Democratic Senate President Richard Codey of Essex County said the Legislature would have to assume a tough watchdog role with Christie, carefully picking its fights.

Beyond the loss of Corzine, legislative leadership is expected to change, at least in the Assembly, where Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr. of Camden is retiring.

That ripples into another important change for fund-raising.

As speaker, Roberts controlled the lower house's political action committee, and frequently outraised even the state party.

Democrats are still mulling a replacement for him and Codey, who is battling with Sweeney over primacy in the Senate, even though Sweeney says he has all the votes he needs to win the post.

Republican leadership is expected to stay the same, with State Sen. Thomas H. Kean Jr. of Union County leading Senate Republicans and Assemblyman Alex DeCroce of Morris County heading the Assembly Republicans.

Cryan said the party also was working to understand the full implications of the Christie victory, which exit polls said rested on voter frustration over the economy.

"There's an anger out there" among voters, he said. "We've got to understand it."

Sweeney said, "If we don't do something dramatic as Democrats, in two years - we're gone."