PASSAIC — Jerry Speziale, who stepped down as Passaic County sheriff earlier this month in the middle of his bid for reelection, has a $1 million campaign account — but no campaign to spend it on. Democratic Party officials would like to see Speziale, who left his elected office for a law enforcement job at the Port Authority of...
Jerry Speziale in this 2003 photo.PASSAIC — Jerry Speziale, who stepped down as Passaic County sheriff earlier this month in the middle of his bid for reelection, has a $1 million campaign account — but no campaign to spend it on.
Democratic Party officials would like to see Speziale, who left his elected office for a law enforcement job at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, refund donors so they can make similar contributions to the party's new candidate, Clifton police Detective Richard Berdnik.
Speziale, meanwhile, has said he plans to donate the fund to charity.
The choice before Speziale, who did not respond to a request for comment for this story, is one many former elected officials have to make after they leave office. Some spend their funds down immediately, sending contributions to other candidates and political causes or by making charitable donations.
Others hold onto their accounts for years — including one former lawmaker who's maintained an active account while serving time in federal prison.
The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission regulates campaign finance at all levels for the state, and its jurisdiction covers what elected officials who are no longer in office can do with their campaign funds.
The commission pushes former candidates and elected officials to close their accounts if they do not plan another run for office, said Jeffrey Brindle, the agency's executive director.
"We like to encourage people once they're out of office to wind their committees down and to close [the account] out," he said.
Repaying donors while "winding down" an account is one of the permissible ways to use campaign funds, according to the commission's compliance manual. Making charitable contributions is also allowed.
Former state Sen. Bill Baroni, a Mercer County Republican, was in a situation similar to Speziale's earlier this year when he was appointed by Governor Christie to be deputy executive director at the Port Authority.
Baroni had been gearing up for what was expected to be a tough primary election in 2011, and had already raised more than $300,000 when he was picked for the new job in February. While much of his campaign funds had already been spent or committed to campaign-related items, he spent another $23,000 within months to get the balance down to zero.
Baroni made contributions to his local Little League and soccer association. He also donated to a fund for the family of former U.S. Rep. Bob Franks, a well-respected Republican who died in April, and to Garden State Equality, the state's leading gay-rights organization.
State law allows donations from campaign accounts to charities that are organized under federal IRS rules, as long as they don't employ the candidate or a family member.
Campaign funds can also be donated to quasi-political groups if they are registered as a federal non-profit social welfare organization, Brindle said. Recent examples of those organizations include Reform Jersey Now, a group that's been promoting Christie's efforts this year, and Save Our State, an organization that backed former Gov. Jon Corzine's bid to fix state finances using a series of highway toll hikes.
"It looks like that would be a permissible use," Brindle said.
Former Assemblyman John Rooney, a Northvale Republican who decided not to seek reelection last year, left office in January with about $1,000 remaining in his campaign account. He paid some leftover bills and then made modest contributions to the Bergen County Republican Organization and other party-affiliated causes.
Contributions to other candidates or political funds are allowed to be made as long as they do not exceed caps set in state election law, Brindle said.
Former N.J. Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts in this 2009 photo.But some former officeholders aren't as eager or able to spend down their campaign accounts right away.
Former state Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts, a Camden County Democrat who decided not to run for reelection last year, had $958,630 in his account in April 2009. He still has $852,684 in the account, according to a report filed with the state last month.
State law allows former candidates to maintain their accounts well after holding office as long as they continue to make regular reports disclosing their activities, as Roberts has, Brindle said.
"Our main concern is that they're compliant," he said.
Roberts has been billing his fund for some shipping and technology expenses, and for meetings at South Jersey restaurants, according to the July report. He also paid a Camden consultant $5,000 in April.
The fund also sent a $5,000 check in April to state Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-Mercer, and a $7,200 check in June to The Leaders Fund, a political action committee with ties to top South Jersey Democrats.
"In accordance with ELEC regulations, the account remains active to support other candidates, make charitable donations and be available if and when I decide to seek office in the future," Roberts said in an e-mail.
Another South Jersey Democrat, former Senate Budget Committee Chairman Wayne Bryant, has held onto his campaign funds even longer than Roberts — and through more difficult circumstances.
Bryant was indicted on federal corruption charges in 2007, and convicted by a jury in 2008. He was sentenced to four years in federal prison in July 2009.
Yet Bryant is still operating a campaign account worth $501,945 even while serving his sentence at a federal prison in West Virginia. Bryant's former law partner and campaign treasurer has been filing regular reports with the state.
Last year, Bryant asked the commission if he could spend his campaign account on legal defense bills, arguing that federal law allows federal campaign funds to be used in a similar fashion.
But the commission, in an April 2009 decision, said a criminal defense was not something elected officials should consider an "ordinary and necessary expense" in New Jersey.
More recently, the commission ruled in favor of a sitting lawmaker who asked if it was appropriate to use his campaign account to cover the cost of flying back to New Jersey from a vacation in New Mexico for a March voting session that was not on the original legislative agenda.
The commission said in a June advisory opinion that the $663.40 spent by Assemblyman David Wolfe, R-Ocean, on round-trip airfare and a car service was an "ordinary and necessary office holding expense."