On Tuesday, Politico reported that New Jersey’s major political leadership committees have spent more money this election cycle than in any of the last 14 years. In total, the six leadership committees raised $10.1 million and have spent $8.9 million, as of September 30. In response to the increased role of big money in politics, New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) releases the following statement.
Nicole Rodriguez, Research Director, NJPP:
“Big money in politics shuts voters out of the political process and leads to public policies that benefit special interests over the needs of the general public. To strengthen our democracy and keep wealthy individuals from having an outsized influence on policy decisions, lawmakers should extend the public financing of elections to state legislative races.
“While our homes get blanketed with expensive mailers and ads paid for by special interests, everyday New Jerseyans have less actual say in governing because of undemocratic and opaque practices like partisan primary ballot design (also known as “the line”) and redistricting that shuts out citizen input. It should come as no surprise that big spending in state legislative races comes at the expense of democratic participation.
“Sky-high political spending by both parties, combined with little opportunity for public input, is a sign of an unhealthy democracy. It’s time to fix that.”
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