by Dana DiFilippo, New Jersey Monitor
Bill Spadea, a Republican running to become New Jersey’s next governor, ended his 10-year stint as a conservative radio show host Thursday, amid mounting criticism from campaign rivals that his radio station bosses gave him unfair advantages.
Spadea has long denied that his morning talk show on New Jersey 101.5 benefitted his campaign because he hasn’t directly appealed to voters to support him in the crowded race for his party’s nomination in the June primary.
During his final show Thursday, he poked fun at his detractors, peppering defiant disclaimers amid the ads that mocked a statement his employer, Townsquare Media, has been airing to disavow any election scheming.
“Townsquare Media and New Jersey 101.5 have implemented parameters, restrictions and guidelines on the content of this broadcast to eliminate the broadcast of any traffic report endorsing, supporting, encouraging, advocating or promoting that there is no congestion if a truck carrying Vicks VapoRub overturns on the highway,” one spoof spot announced.
The show is “full of disclaimers, this morning and every day,” Spadea joked. “Congratulations on disclaimer-free Friday, coming up tomorrow.”
In between the disclaimers and traffic, weather, and news reports, Spadea mostly spent his four-hour show taking calls from gushing fans who vowed to support him and thanked him for advocating for conservative causes, as well as Republican politicians alluding to his gubernatorial campaign.
“You have a way of connecting with people and making them feel important. It’s almost this Reaganesque quality,” said Robert Pluta, a Republican who served on Lawrence Public Schools’ school board.
Heather Moran McGarvey, president of the Pinelands Republican Club, called to congratulate Spadea for winning a straw poll her group did after a candidates’ night Wednesday.
He also sympathized with several callers who said they plan to leave the state over their disgust with state politics dominated by Democrats, recounted his commitment and visits to small businesses, and touched on a range of conservative causes, from pandemic precautions and closures to supporting police.
“I love New Jersey, and New Jersey has my full commitment and whatever, wherever the journey leads, I’m digging in one way or the other,” he said.
He bashed the political press, too, agreeing when broadcaster Eric Scott, who will take over Spadea’s show, complained that the Statehouse press corps is “a bunch of teenagers” who lack intellectual curiosity and skills.
“They took some local courses at Rutgers, and they, you know, they’re wannabe journalists. And they’re not journalists,” Spadea added. “Their experience is all social media.”
Spadea’s last day on air came two days after attorneys for Jack Ciattarelli, who’s also vying for the party’s nomination in the governor’s race, urged the Election Law Enforcement Commission, the state’s campaign finance watchdog, to withhold matching funds from Spadea because of the benefits his airtime affords him.
The complaint filed Tuesday revives protests Ciattarelli and state Sen. Jon Bramnick — another governor hopeful — made months ago that claimed Spadea’s time on the radio amounted to in-kind contributions from the station’s owner worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in violation of contribution limits and other rules on New Jersey’s gubernatorial public financing program.
The complaint filed Tuesday revives protests made months ago by Ciattarelli and another gubernatorial hopeful, Sen. Jon Bramnick (R-Union), that claimed Spadea’s daily presence on New Jersey 101.5 amounted to in-kind contributions from the station’s owner worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in violation of contribution limits and other rules on New Jersey’s gubernatorial public financing program.
“Their intentional circumvention of the contribution limits and their actions in light of the Commission’s admonitions earlier this year should preclude Spadea, who is due to host his final radio show Thursday, from receiving matching funds,” Ciattarelli’s campaign said in Tuesday’s filing.
The filing says Townsquare Media, which owns the radio station, has provided Spadea with a platform to boost his name recognition, advance his campaign, curry favor with party officials and donors, and launch attacks against his opponents.
The filing claims New Jersey 101.5 deleted content by Spadea that could have been used to attack him and that Spadea used his radio show, podcast, and their social media pages to attack gubernatorial opponents with the company’s full knowledge.
Ciattarelli’s campaign said the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission should bar Spadea from receiving matching funds under the state’s gubernatorial public financing program — which offers a 2-to-1 match on donations to eligible candidates in exchange for capping the funds they can raise and spend — and impose “significant fines” on the company.
Some of the Ciattarelli complaint centers around a disclaimer Townsquare Media runs in advance of Spadea’s show — which says Townsquare and the station do not endorse or support Spadea’s bid — that the station’s owners have previously said is an attempt to distance itself from Spadea’s campaign. Ciattarelli’s filing notes the disclaimer mentions Spadea’s candidacy four times, and is meant to spread knowledge of his candidacy and boost name recognition.
The disclaimer was unnecessary, Ciattarelli’s attorneys said, because Spadea could have simply remained on air without mentioning his candidacy or advocating for his election on air.
“However, simply ignoring Spadea’s candidacy did not further the interests of Spadea, his campaign or Townsquare,” the complaint says.
Though the election commission last year declined to impose sanctions on Spadea’s campaign or require him to step back from the radio show, Commissioner Ryan Peters said at the time the disclaimer “sounds like a promotion” of the radio host’s campaign.
A Spadea campaign spokesman has called the complaints “lawfare” and Ciattarelli’s campaign “flailing.”