A New Jersey teachers’ union spent $40 million trying to make its own president the next governor. Despite the effort, New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller received only 11% of the vote for a fifth-place finish in the Democratic primary.
According to New Jersey Spotlight News, the union got the money from member dues. NJEA charges $1,082 for an annual professional membership for teachers, administrators, nurses and counselors, while supportive memberships, for positions including custodians, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and secretaries, cost $520.
In total, Spiller won approximately 86,000 votes, which brings the total cost per vote to about $465. The money came from an independent committee that is funded by the union, according to NJ Spotlight.
While Spiller got the most help from outside spending, his campaign raised and spent the least amount of money, by far. Figures from the NJ Monitor show while the top candidates’ campaigns spent between seven and nine million dollars, Spiller’s campaign raised a grand total of $438,817 as of May 27 and had only spent $342,059.
The Union is trying to frame the Spiller campaign’s spending as a positive, saying it brought attention to issues that are important to teachers. Spiller responded to criticism of the spending spree.
“When it’s one of our own, when it’s an educator, when it’s us, all of a sudden it’s a big story,” Spiller said. “Why do we always have to hand it to someone else for it to be OK? We decided we don’t have to do that.”
Spiller is correct, the NJEA does have a history of political advocacy. It spent $15 million over three years helping Governor Phil Murphy’s 2021 reelection.
In May 2024, the union’s SuperPac committed to spending $40 million on behalf of the candidate it decided to endorse. Spiller declared his candidacy a month later and won the endorsement.
There are mixed reactions to Spiller’s campaign and associated spending.
“We’re putting our issues out in the forefront, and I think that forced the other candidates to say, ‘Oh, jeez, these educator issues are important,’” Spanish teacher Dan Siegel told NJ Spotlight.
“I don’t think there is any evidence I can find that it led to a bigger discussion on the plight of teachers. It didn’t lead to, I think, an improved climate for teachers,” Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics, stated.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill won the Democratic Gubernatorial primary, and former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli won the Republican nomination. The general election is Tuesday, November 4.
