By IAN T. SHEARN

Scott Fields had already become a very wealthy man from his Newark trucking company before he dove head-first into real estate development, first in Newark a decade ago and more recently in Jersey City. So, it should come as no surprise that Fields is hedging his bets on this year’s New Jersey gubernatorial primary, being that the mayors of those two cities are running for governor,

According to an analysis of state and federal election records by The Gumption Group, Fields, along with family members and his employees, have donated at least $92,500 to Newark Mayor Ras Baraka’s gubernatorial campaign, making him Baraka’s top contributor. At the same time, Fields and associates have ponied $246,000 to Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop’s gubernatorial war chest.   

Fields is by no means an outlier in this strategy. Political contributions have long been a part of doing business, particularly in New Jersey. History has shown that the most generous campaign donors, are less driven by policy issues, or even party affiliation, but rather by their own bottom line. And in recent years, the real estate business has been booming in Jersey City and Newark, which offers a plausible explanation for the two mayors’ good fortune with the development sector.

At a recent public forum, Baraka was asked, “How have you as mayor of a major city navigated your relationships with powerful financial interests … As governor, how would you maintain your independence from these financial interests?”

“Well, my record shows that we’ve maintained our independence,” Baraka responded. “You know, they’re not funding our campaigns.”

Our analysis of his state and federal campaign filings, however, tell a different story. It reveals that Baraka’s gubernatorial campaign has received $1.3 million in political donations from real estate developers and affiliated entities involved in Newark real estate development. That amounts to more than half of his total contributions (not including the $4 million he received in matching funds from state taxpayers), and it shows that seven of his top 10 campaign donors are active in the Newark real estate.  

“While Mayor Baraka has taken campaign contributions from small and medium-sized developers, his record shows he does them no special favors. He demands 20 percent set asides for affordable housing, more than any other city in the state. … The mayor doesn’t court donations from large corporate developers,” said Newark city spokesman Mark Di Ionno. “Mayor Baraka. says as governor, he will take big money out of elections by expanding SuperPACs transparency to eliminate dark money, invest in ELEC oversights, and limit party to candidate spending, which is unlimited right now.”

Fulop has done even better than his Newark rival. His campaign has raised at least $2.5 million from developers and affiliated businesses, our analysis shows, about a quarter of his total contributions (not including his $5.5 million in matching state funds).  Fulop’s campaign declined to comment.

 While donations in New Jersey gubernatorial campaigns are limited to $5,800, it has been a longstanding practice for aggressive contributors to “bundle” additional donations from family members, business associates, employees and friends. That strategy is well evident in both Fulop and Baraka’s campaign reports, and particularly with their real estate donors. 

In addition to their traditional state campaign accounts, both candidates also have affiliated federal super PACS, where there are no limits on contributions. Fulop’s super PAC, Coalition for Progress, has infused $6.6 million into his state gubernatorial campaign.

Campaign finance reform has taken many twists and turns over the years in New Jersey.  The debate over how best to limit outsized influence by outsized donors continues, though it is hard to argue that the emergence of super PACs in recent years has dramatically shifted the playing field. New Jersey’s Current pay-to-play law places some restrictions on donors who have been awarded government contracts but does not include developers and related industries who land lucrative deals at the whim of local government officials. (Both Baraka and Fulop repealed their local pay-to-play ordinances, which were tougher than the state law.)  

Paul P. Josephson, an attorney at Duane Morris who specializes in government ethics, campaigns and election issues, has tracked pay-to-play reform up close since it erupted during his years as chief counsel for former Gov. Jim McGreevey. He has come to the conclusion that the debate is a bit of a quixotic exercise; no law will ever stop the flow of money from developers, or any special interest, to politicians. 

“As long as there is a First Amendment, there is always going to be a back door, and you’re going to have a hard time finding it.” he said in a recent interview with the Monitor. “The only thing you can really do is require immediate disclosure. I mean campaign filings in real time — like every 72 or 48 hours. Let the public follow the trail and figure out the relationships between donors and candidates.”

 ‘THAT IS A SHAKEDON.’

The 2011corruption trial of former Newark Deputy Mayor Ronald Salahuddin gave the public a rare glimpse of how that plays out in the rough-and-tumble world of New Jersey politics. Nick Mazziochi, the owner of a large New Jersey demolition company who had become an FBI informant, took the stand and explained in stark terms how he had paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and campaign donations over the years.

“I make political contributions because I learned over the years that not making them, I lost tens of millions of dollars,” he testified.  “That is a shakedown.”

That is why, Mazzocchi said, he has donated to former Gov. Chris Christie, former Bayonne Mayor Joseph Doria and Booker, among others.

Bob Minter, then-manager of demolition for Newark, underscored Mazzocchi’s point when he testified in the trial. He said Salahuddin told him he noticed Minter was awarding demolition contracts to another contractor, T. Fiore Demolition, and added, “I want you to know he’s not a friend of the administration. Mazzocchi is a friend of the administration.” 

“My interpretation of that was the work I had been giving to Teddy Fiore, to give to Mazzocchi,” Minter said. “There had been favorable concessions made to the Booker administration that Fiore had not made.”

Mazzocchi testified he did not bribe Deputy Mayor Salahuddin, but he did make thousands of dollars in contributions to Newark Now, a nonprofit organization of then-Mayor Cory Booker, who is now a U.S. Senator. Shortly thereafter, Mazzocchi received contracts worth more than a million dollars in city demolition work. (Salahuddin was found guilty.)

Campaign finance records suggest that Scott Fields and his associates have heeded Mazzocchi’s lesson. City land records also show he has done real estate business with Teddy Fiore, Mazzocchi’s rival. 

WHO IS SCOTTY FIELDS?

Scott A. Fields entry into public/private real estate ventures dates back to 1995 when he purchased an abandoned five-acre lot from the Newark Housing Authority to expand his growing trucking company. He was given a steep discount to clean up the contaminated site. The; Newark Economic Development Authority arranged the financing, the NJ Economic Development Authority provided a low-interest loan, and the City of Newark delivered a long-term tax abatement.

That project led to more brownfield redevelopment projects in the city’s Ironbound District. From there, he transitioned to residential and mixed-use projects on land he bought from the city and was designated by City Council as the redeveloper. His real estate activity took off during Baraka’s 10-year span. Since 2014, he has established at least 45 development companies, and he has become one of Newark’s busiest real estate investment and development firms.

He has been designated the redeveloper by Newark City Council for several projects in which he purchased city owned land at a discounted price. He has also partnered up on several project with Stephen Sciaretta, president of Claremont Properties, a Fair Hills development and construction firm.  

Fields’ string of Newark real estate successes led him to Jersey City with bigger projects in mind. He currently has three large-scale, high-rise development projects in the works there. One of them is with Claremont’s Sciaretta, another is with NJ Turnpike Commissioner and developer Ralph Salermo (Baraka’s fifth largest donor) and a third with a group of investors called the Grand Jersey Group. Fields, Salermo, family members and business associates have contributed $246,000 to Fulop campaign accounts since he announced his candidacy for governor in 2023. That’s more than twice that Baraka received from developers

Reached by phone, Fields declined comment.

Fulop also enjoys an overwhelming advantage over Baraka in total money raised.

Baraka for Governor has raised a total of $6.9 million — $5.3 million in his state campaign, including $3 million in public matching funds, and $1.6 million from his two federal Super PACs.  Records show he has $666,000 remaining.

Fulop for Governor, has raised a total of $8.9 million, including $5.5 million in matching funds. He has raised another $18.5 million for his super PAC, Coalition for Progress, since the beginning of 2023. Coalition for Progress alone has $11 million available.

Democrats also running for their party’s nomination are U.S. Reps Mikkie Sherrill and Josh Gottheimer, former State Senate President Stephen Sweeney and NJEA President Sean Spiller. Voters go to the polls next Tuesday to decide the winners of each party’s nominee.

Ian T. Shearn is the founder of The Gumption Group and a freelance multi-media journalist based in New Jersey. He was an investigative reporter and the New Jersey Statehouse bureau chief for The Star-Ledger, where he was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize. He has published pieces for NJ Spotlight News, ABC News 20/20, The Nation, Mother Jones, and NJ Monthly magazine, among others. He can be reached at ishearn@prodigy.net.