Article By Tom Precious
…The Senate Republicans say their analysis of a new bill by Assembly Democrats finds finds a general election campaign under a public finance system could cost $145 million – including $24 million for a governor’s race and $16 million apiece for the comptroller and attorney general. If there were 426 candidates running for Assembly and Senate seats – which would translate into 2 candidates per district in each house – taxpayers would be on the hook for about $90 million in a general campaign.
The GOP said the Assembly bill could cost another $76 million to finance primary races.
The GOP believes its numbers are conservative. For instance, they say the analysis is based only on major party candidates running, and that the tab would be higher if minor party candidates are on the ballot and qualify for funding under the Assembly’s funding formula. And they say the numbers assume only 25 percent of senators face a primary with just one of the candidates getting public matching dollars…
