Yesterday many New Jersey residents found a large laminated ad from “Protecting Our Democracy” in their mailboxes. What’s up with that?

“Protecting Our Democracy” (POD) is non-profit headed by the president of New Jersey Education Association, Sean Spiller. The PAC trumpets a progressive agenda that includes “creating opportunities through continued investments in the best public schools in our nation” and “strengthening organized labor.” Its Facebook page adds worthy causes like maternal health care, racial equity, gun safety, and LGBTQ rights. What’s not to like?

This: While the ad campaign withholds any inkling of the POD’s purpose, on Monday NJ Globe’s David Wildstein notes the PAC just laid out $500,000 on a media ad buy (ergo, your mailbox)::

“Spiller, the president of the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest public employee union, is mulling a bid for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2025.   He leads Protecting Our Democracy, a 501(c)(4) non-profit.”

The field Spiller aspires to enter is getting crowded. Current gubernatorial hopefuls, just on the Democratic side, include Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, former State Senate President Steve Sweeney, and (possibly) U.S. Congress members Mikie Sherill and Josh Gottheimer. That is some pretty stiff competition and a huge bet; the half of million dollars is just the beginning.

But it’s not Spiller whose money is on the line. As the Star-Ledger reports, POD is funded by New Jersey teacher dues. While teachers have the choice whether or not to opt into donating to NJEA’s traditional PAC, NJEA also has a “dark money PAC,” Garden State Forward, that doesn’t disclose its donors. From the Star-Ledger:

“Guess who determines how much in teachers’ dues gets transferred from Garden State Forward to Spiller’s own dark money group, Protecting our Democracy, a likely platform for his gubernatorial run? It’s decided behind the scenes by three top executives – one of whom is Spiller himself. That’s a pretty big conflict of interest.”

Now Spiller is a busy man with three big jobs: headlining a PAC, running NJEA, and being mayor of Montclair (although he is not running for another term). But he’s carrying a lot of baggage in his quest to fill Gov. Phil Murphy’s seat, including his multiple conflicts of interest, allegedly taking health benefits he doesn’t qualify for (according to a whistleblower suit), trying to hide evidence by “taking the Fifth,” and signing off on illegal no-bid contracts.

One could add to that list “taking NJEA members’ hard-earned money to fund his personal political ambitions” without their knowledge Mike Lilley of Sunlight Policy Center decided to enter “Protecting Our Democracy” into NJEA website’s search bar. Here’s what comes up: “Sorry, but nothing matched your search terms. Please try again with different keywords.”

Lilley adds that Garden State Forward “has never been mentioned in the NJEA’s monthly magazine for teachers” or in NJEA’s annual budget summary or  “has it ever been mentioned in the NJEA Delegate Assembly minutes provided to teachers.  As a (deliberate) result, most teachers do not know Garden State Forward exists, let alone that they are funding it,” concluding that “NJEA President Spiller is using millions of his members’ regular dues to pay for his personal political career without their knowledge and therefore without their consent.”

Why should you care? Who is against adequate funding for schools or restoring public confidence in government or racial equity?

It’s not the cause, it’s the candidate. Both the Star-Ledger Editorial Board and Lilley conclude that teachers should be able to decide whether they want their money going in Spiller’s candidacy, including the junk mail in your mailbox yesterday. Our democracy needs protection but so do our teachers.