The Rotten Stench Of New Jersey Political Corruption Is On The Verge Of A Long Overdue Reform

Christie, Norcross, Murphy... corruption

Yesterday, Katie Porter endorsed Andy Kim for the New Jersey Senate seat, Bob Menendez is currently holding. She sent her followers a fund-raising letter, noting that “Andy Kim and I both were elected in 2018, as part of a big class of Democrats who flipped the House blue and were committed to doing things differently. We have both rejected corporate PAC money from the get-go, and Andy has been a champion for cleaning up corruption in Washington ever since. After holding his competitive seat in Congress, Andy is now running for the Senate. After reports broke that current New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez took bribes from foreign officials, Andy stepped up to run. Now, Menendez has been indicted on 18 federal counts, but is still considering running for the seat as an independent.”

We’ve been avidly following the depravity of the Menendez case, the battle to fill his seat and, now, the battle to derail New Jersey’s culture of political corruption. And, needless to say, we weren’t surprised to see the most corrupt and venal of New Jersey’s machine bosses, George Norcross, take center stage (even if from behind the curtain, as the puppetmaster).

Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop had tangled with Norcross long before it was popular to do so. Yesterday, he told me that he and Norcross “have had differences since 2014 when I would speak up about his influence over elected officials and I was the only voice at the time saying the truth with regards to how they operated in Camden and statewide. This year, the videos from the Camden Convention for the US Senate Democratic Primary were the first time that many of the activists actually saw firsthand how the party works and it has only amplified their willingness to work for change. Ironically, that perceived power flex by Camden is greatly contributing to the entire power structure in New Jersey being unraveled and that is a good thing for residents of New Jersey.“

Friday, the editorial board of the South Jersey Times called Norcross out by name: Something’s more rotten in Norcross land. They wrote that “No matter how Andy Kim’s lawsuit against ‘the county line’ on New Jersey primary ballots turns out, the idea of a sitting governor backing his wife— Kim’s chief rival Tammy Murphy— for the Democrats’ U.S. Senate nomination is problematic. This really hit home recently when Murphy won the endorsements, and their preferred ballot positions, from the Camden and Gloucester county party organizations.”

The big complaint statewide about Gov. Phil Murphy pushing the First Lady’s nomination is that he’s perhaps the nation’s most powerful governor. The basic concern is that a such a governor can use his or her clout to obtain the coveted result for their spouse’s electoral advancement.

 Murphy— Phil, that is, and his administration— controls discretionary state aid that can make life better or more miserable for politicians and ordinary citizens, depending on how a county chairperson and other top officials play along. A governor can refuse to name certain appointees to cushy state jobs near and dear to the hearts of the local pols.

 The Murphys deny they’d ever do such things, of course. But, an added dimension to this revolves around the controversial George Norcross III, the businessman and former Camden County Democrats’ chair. The political boss laughably claimed last year that he was divorcing himself from New Jersey politics; there’s little evidence that’s true.

 Norcross endorsed Tammy Murphy early and often. Her securing the “line” in Camden and Gloucester counties under suspicious circumstance had his fingerprints all over it. Kim and another contender for the Senate nomination, Patricia Campos-Medina, were barred from a Camden County Democrats’ committee meeting on Saturday where endorsements were granted. No vote of the membership was reported. A similar Murphy endorsement by osmosis took place two days later in Gloucester County.

 It’s not new for Norcross and the figureheads who hold party chairmanships in both counties to use a “screening committee,” real or imagined, to vet nominees who ultimately get the nod. The system’s reminiscent of the Outback Steakhouse slogan, “No rules, just right.”

 The distinction is that Norcross, with his swirl of questionable financial/political deals is often under investigation by the state government. And, it’s undeniable that Murphy is never more than a phone call away from calling off the dogs.

 Consider these ongoing probes where the state Attorney General’s Office is reportedly involved:

• That the South Jersey Transportation (Atlantic City Expressway) Authority board, filled will Norcross-linked appointees, refused to pay for months bills submitted by an engineering/construction management contractor, as retaliation for a company executive and Mercer County commissioner for endorsing the “wrong” candidate in a local election. 

• That the state Attorney General’s Office of Public Integrity and accountability launched another probe last year. According to NJ Advance Media, numerous subpoenas track back to allegations that Norcross and financial partners milked a special New Jersey Economic Development Authority fund targeted to Camden city businesses, steering the program’s tax breaks toward companies that Norcross co-owns.

• That, according to The Inquirer and NJ Advance Media, another AG’s probe surrounds Norcross’ influence over the Camden Redevelopment Authority and some complicated real-estate deals, stemming from allegations by waterfront developer Carl Dranoff. Last month, Politico New Jersey reported that the CRA hired a $200-an-hour special counsel, presumably to represent the agency’s former head of economic development.

In another case that’s not formally attached to the AG’s office, a judge just punted to a weakened state Election Law Enforcement Commission a court claim by Republicans that Norcross-led PACs funded phantom right-leaning independent candidates in order to dilute GOP votes in legislative elections last fall.

Line or no line, this all ads up to another blow to voter confidence. Possibly, in all of the investigations above, there’s “no there there.” But, unless indictments or charges are filed, how will we know that the cases didn’t go away due to some less-than-divine-intervention?

It might help if Gov. Murphy and handpicked state Attorney General Matt Platkin were to publicly state they’ve they haven’t discussed any of these matters with Norcross or his representatives. In the latest twist, Platkin told the court in the Kim ballot design case that he won’t back the official Murphy administration position to defend the status quo. So, Platkin may not be around much longer to prosecute anything.

New Jersey’s whole ballot and endorsement system smells rotten. It smells more rotten in Camden County and the rest of Norcross’ sphere of influence.