Fact check: yes, toms river council candidate ricotta accepted thousands in dark money pac donations from lakewood and downtown developers

In an article released last week, Toms River council candidate Anthony Ricotta was shown to have accepted thousands of dollars from a dark money PAC that he founded and controlled into his own Toms River council account.

That money came from major players in the development of Toms River, Jackson, Manchester, and Lakewood, including the wife of a lawyer suing Toms River to build the downtown twin tower apartments, and a prominent Lakewood developer Mordechai Eichorn, who is building private schools in Jackson, a massive development on the Lakewood/Jackson border and several entities tied to the overall high density development projects in Downtown Toms River.

This week, Ricotta is claiming that article was wrong, but here are the receipts and the facts.

Ricotta launches PAC

Ricotta launched a PAC called “Conservative Leaders for New Jersey” on January 19, 2024. He is listed as the chairperson of this PAC.

PAC files annual report

This January, Ricotta’s PAC filed its annual reporting, required by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. That report outlined all of the contributions made to that PAC.

Here are the major contributors to Ricotta’s PAC:

Colliers Engineering and Design, Holmdel – $1,600
Dasti & Staiger PC, Forked River – $5,000
Mordechai Eichorn, ReMax OnTheMove Realty, Lakewood – $5,000
Catherine Shea, Wife of RC Shea, Law Firm, Toms River – $800
Michael Write Construction – Downtown Toms River Construction Co. – $500
Yazzi Associates – Downtown Toms River Architect – $300

Conservative Leaders for Nj – Pac by Shore News Network

Ricotta Transfered his Dark PAC Money to Toms River Council Campaign Account

Between April 4 and May 9, 2025, Ricotta moved $8,500 from his Conservative Leaders For NJ PAC into his Toms River campaign account. This strategy is often used in politics to make it harder for the public to know how a campaign is funded, since most people won’t have the time or desire to investigate further. While his campaign filing shows just “Conservative Leaders for NJ”, a deceptive PAC that took money from engineers and real estate lawyers and funneled it to Ricotta’s account, a deeper dive shows where that money came from (See PAC filing above).

All information used in this fact check can be obtained via the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement public information portal.

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