South Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross was indicted Monday on state racketeering and corruption charges in a new blow to the Garden State’s once potent political machine.
The powerful kingmaker and brother of sitting Democratic Rep. Donald Norcross was hit with 13 criminal counts tied to a sweeping scheme to take financial and political advantage of the lucrative redevelopment of the Camden waterfront.
“The Norcross enterprise manipulated government programs and processes designed to attract development and investment to instead suit their own financial desires,” New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin said. “Instead of contributing to the successes of the city … the Norcross enterprise took the Camden waterfront all for themselves.”
Norcross, who has controlled the vote-spinning South Jersey Democratic machine for three decades, was charged along his lobbyist brother, Phillip and several other cronies.
They’re charged with bullying a developer into relinquishing a prime waterfront site with threats of political retaliation and engineering a lucrative tax-credit scheme to benefit his associates.
“(Norcross) threatened the developer that he would … ‘f— you up like you’ve never been f—ed up before,” the indictment says. “(He) told the developer he would make sure the developer never did business in Camden again.”
The developer wound up selling the site for $18 million to a Norcross pal who wound up pocketing $240 million in tax credits, the indictment says.
George Norcross sat in the front row of Platkin’s press conference announcing the indictment. His lawyer tried to ask the state’s top lawman a question but Platkin left without answering.
Norcross, a former Democratic National Committee member and one-time head of the Camden County Democratic Party, has faced legal scrutiny for years but has never been charged by state or federal prosecutors.
The South Jersey machine headed by Norcross was once one of the most powerful political operations in the nation.
Its power has waned in recent years as New Jersey has become more of a solidly blue state, meaning its power to deliver votes has become less important to swinging statewide elections.
Onetime Democratic Rep. Jeff Van Drew also dealt a blow to the organization by crossing the aisle to become a Republican in 2020.
The indictment makes Norcross the latest Garden State Democrat to face criminal charges.
Sen. Robert Menendez is currently on trial for his role in a federal bribery and influence-peddling scheme.
The aftermath of Menendez’s legal troubles has also weakened the Democratic machine. Rep. Andy Kim, a reform-minded suburban lawmaker, looks poised to succeed Menendez and convinced a federal judge to toss out the so-called “county line” ballot system, which gave county bosses the power to give favored candidates prime spots on primary ballots.
