Ex-Montclair Mayor's NJ Gov Campaign Backed By Group With $35M: Report

MONTCLAIR, NJ — Sean Spiller’s campaign for New Jersey governor is being backed by a group with plans to spend $35 million on the race, a report says.

Spiller, the former mayor of Montclair, is one of several candidates who are vying to replace term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy in 2025. He is running as a Democrat, and announced his gubernatorial campaign last year.

The New Jersey Monitor recently examined Spiller’s campaign finance reports, which list no staff members – unlike several of his competitors. Spiller’s most recent filing (which covered the period ending Dec. 31) reported only $64,253 in spending since he launched his campaign in June 2024. However, Spiller is also backed by an outside spending group that told election officials it will spend $35 million on the race, the report adds.

Read the full article here.

Spiller served a term as mayor of Montclair before declaring he wasn’t running again. He is currently president of the New Jersey Education Association, the largest teachers union in the state.

Spiller is running on a campaign platform that includes “affordability and the economy,” housing, health and child care, “climate change and clean energy” and “education.” See his campaign website here, and watch his campaign launch video here.

• Read More: Ex-Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller Launches NJ Governor Campaign
• Read More: Spiller’s Campaign Video Gets Sharp Rebuke From Another Former Mayor

A crowded field of candidates have announced governor runs in 2025. In addition to Spiller, they include:

DEMOCRAT – Ras Baraka, Steve Fulop, Josh Gottheimer, Mikie Sherrill, Stephen Sweeney

REPUBLICAN – Roger Bacon, Justin Barbera, Jon Bramnick, Monica Brinson, Robert Canfield, Jack Ciattarelli, Edward Durr, James Fazzone, Hans Herberg, Mario Kranjac, Bill Spadea

THIRD-PARTY/INDEPENDENT – Stephen Zielinski (Green Party), Gerardo Cedrone (independent), Karen Zaletel (independent)

Spiller ranked sixth-highest among Democratic candidates in a poll released by the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University-New Brunswick in November. Read More: Governor Who? NJ Voters Murky On Candidates For 2025, Poll Says

Spiller performed better in a January poll taken by Emerson College, which put him in a tie for second-place among Democratic candidates with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. The highest-rated candidate in the poll? Another politician with ties to Montclair: U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill.

• See Related: 5 Takeaways From First Republican Debate For NJ Governor
• See Related: 3 Candidates Seek NJ Libertarian Nod As 2025 Governor Race Heats Up
• See Related: NJ Governor Candidates Speak On ‘Equity, Segregation’

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