Democrats Outspending Republicans in Council Race By Wide Margin

Democrats running for Township Council outspent their Republican opposition by a nearly 7-to-1 margin as of the last mandatory campaign-finance filing deadline on Oct. 28.

The Democratic slate of Glen Bianchini, Orlando Mercado, Sam Siler and Tracey Trotto reported they had spent a total of $92,346.65 on their campaign as of their 11-day pre-election filing with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC). They had about $6,500 remaining in campaign coffers at the time.

The Republican slate of Sam Garro, Teddy Liddell, Linda Musser and Erica Weissmann had spent $13,274 and reported having about $5,200 remaining.

Independent candidate Darren Gladden has not filed an ELEC report. He told Patch he has not raised any funds for his campaign.

In addition to the campaign's cash on hand, the Democrats also have at their disposal funds from a number of local political action committees (PAC), including Gloucester Township Citizens for Responsible Government, Gloucester Township Citizens for Government Reform, The Chairman's Club, and Association of Former Gloucester Township Democratic Mayors.

The Chairman's Club donated $25,000 on Sept. 1, Association of Former Gloucester Township Democratic Mayors a total of $19,600 on Sept. 1 and 29,  and Citizens for Government Reform $10,000 on Sept. 2, according to the Democrats' Oct. 11 ELEC report.

A media campaign, including TV commercials, put together by Bluewire Media, of Blackwood, accounted for the Democrats' biggest expenditure. The campaign paid the firm $60,114 on Sept. 29.

The Democrats' largest campaign donor aside from the PACs has been Remington & Vernick, which donated $10,400 on July 21. The Haddonfield-based engineering firm currently holds the professional-services contract as township engineer.

The Republicans' biggest donor has by far been the Gloucester Township Republican Municipal Committee, which had kicked in $12,000 through October.

ELEC reports show the local GOP committee largely raised its funds through individual donations and a March 11 payment of $5,000 from the Camden County Republican Party.

The GOP campaign and committee also received a total of $800 from JSH International LLC, a Mount Laurel-based bio-environmental company founded by nationally recognized land developer Jirair S. Hovnanian.

The Law Offices of Thomas Booth LLC had contributed $400 to the GOP campaign through Oct. 28. Booth is chairman of Camden County GOP.