The campaign of Pastor Phil Rizzo failed to clear a critical fundraising hurdle on Tuesday which, had he cleared it, could’ve guaranteed an interesting June GOP gubernatorial primary.
A letter from ELEC to the Rizzo campaign posted by Politico‘s Matt Friedman reveals that Rizzo won’t qualify for public matching funds. Doing so would’ve propelled Rizzo close to or even over the million dollar mark this spring, granting him the funds he’d likely need to give Republican frontrunner Jack Ciattarelli a serious challenge for the party nomination.
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Citing “lateness” and other deficiencies, Director of Compliance Stephanie Olivo informed the campaign that it had fallen short of the requirements for compliance (specifically, demonstrating $490,000 raised in amount of $4,900 or less by a specified deadline).
Tuesday’s development doesn’t mean Rizzo is done, but it does mean he’ll now need to find a way to win without any county lines AND likely a major spending disadvantage, too. Ciattarelli has already received $2‚883‚176 through the gubernatorial matching fund program.
Phil Murphy pocketed $4‚100‚000.
The last Republican to win the state gubernatorial nomination without party support was Bret Schundler, but it’s worth remembering that Schundler’s high profile work as the GOP mayor of Jersey City had earned him name recognition that can’t be gained over a short period of time without a lot of cash.
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