TOMS RIVER, NJ – Bill Spadea, the New Jersey 101.5 political shock jock, has announced he will put other people’s money where his mouth is.
In an odd twist of events, Spadea, who spent most of the 2021 gubernatorial election cycle attacking Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli, helping to keep conservative Republicans from voting for Ciattarelli, has now teamed up with Ciattarelli.
Ciattarelli and Spadea announced in a joint press release recently that they fully endorse the new “Building a Competitive New Jersey SuperPAC”, making for extremely strange bedfellows.
Spadea spent every waking minute pushing his candidate Phil Rizzo in 2021 and launched relentless attacks against Ciattarelli throughout the campaign.
“Jack was useless as a member of the Assembly and has been a part of insider politics waiting to be blessed with county boss endorsements before stepping forward to run,” Spadea wrote in a scathing Op-Ed criticizing Ciatarelli and the New Jersey GOP. “New Jersey can’t afford another Republican willing to carry the water for the group-think, fear narrative while the state suffers so much from irresponsible, dangerous and arbitrary political decisions from Trenton.”
Spadea was relentless against Ciattarelli throughout the campaign. Many blame the combination of Spadea’s attacks on Ciattarelli with Ciattarelli’s unwillingness to embrace conservatives in New Jersey as the reason for his loss to Phil Murphy.
“Jack is a typical shill for corporate interests and thinks that if he plays to people’s fear, like the corporate media, people will like him and feed his ambition to be governor,” Spadea said of Ciattarelli during the 2021 election cycle.
The Republican Super PAC is headed by Doug Steinhardt, a lawyer with strong ties to former New Jersey Governor Jim Florio, Labor Leader Josh Hertzberg and perennial election loser, Steve Lonegan.
Being a shill to corporate interests is a trait that could prove financially successful in the world of pay-to-play politics in New Jersey. Spadea could be onto something.
New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission records don’t show it.
A recent filing shows the PAC has only raised about $6,000 since its formation last summer. It currently shows a bank account balance of $845.