TRENTON — A longshot Democratic candidate for New Jersey governor filed a complaint in state court Wednesday accusing the Democratic party in Bergen County of “fraudulently, prejudicially, and unfairly” endorsing the race’s front-runner, Phil Murphy, at its convention last week.
Bob Hoatson, a former Catholic priest who is now an activist, filed the complaint in the chancery division of the Bergen County Superior Court, according to papers he provided to NJ Advance Media.
The move came six days after Murphy, a millionaire former Goldman Sach executive and ex-U.S. ambassador to Germany, won 87 percent of the 733 votes cast at the Bergen County Democratic Committee’s convention.
The victory earns Murphy top placement on the county’s ballots in June’s primary for the Democratic nomination to succeed Republican Gov. Chris Christie. Bergen, New Jersey’s most populous county, is home to 201,000 of the state’s 1.8 million registered Democrats.
Murphy nabs second county victory in N.J. governor’s race
But Hoatson, a West Orange resident, is accusing the local party of not inviting other candidates to the convention in an effort to rush through Murphy’s endorsement because he “bought the top of the ticket with his wealth.”
“I learned about the convention when they announced Phil Murphy had been given the nod there,” Hoatson told NJ Advance Media. “I thought: ‘Wait a minute. Did they invite all the Democratic candidates to be at their convention to get exposure? I never heard a word about it.'”
Lou Stellato, the Bergen County Democratic chairman, dismissed the allegations, saying while the party does not send out formal invitations, the convention is “an open process” in which all candidates are allowed to come and speak.
“The fact this individual didn’t do his homework has nothing to do with me or my organization,” Stellato told NJ Advance Media. “It’s not like this was done in a phone booth at 2 o’clock in the morning.”
Murphy’s campaign did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
This is the latest example of Democratic rivals crying foul over Murphy’s ascension.
Murphy is one of 10 people to declare their candidacy for the party’s not, but he has nabbed the support of numerous Democratic county chairs and is considered the race’s early favorite.
He also formally received top-of-the-ballot placement in Monmouth County by winning the party’s convention there last month.
Critics note that county conventions have previously been held in March. And one state lawmaker who is not running, state Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), sent a letter to the the Bergen party saying the process was “being rushed.”
Robert Becker, the campaign manager for another candidate, state Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), has accused the party of trying to “rig” the conventions to “coronate” Murphy.
Wisniewki’s campaign also notes that Murphy and his campaign have donated a combined $116,850 to the Bergen County Democratic Committee over the last three years, according to records by the state Election Law Enforcement Commission.
Yet another candidate, state Sen. Raymond Lensiak (D-Union), said he’s not even attending any county convention because “it’s not a competitive process.”
“When you’re against tens of millions of dollars, that’s what happens,” Lesniak said.
Stellato said candidates are making excuses for losing.
“You can blame the lunar cycle or the fact that it was in January or that it was cloudy,” the Bergen chairman said. “But you have 800 people who voted. It’s not 15 guys in a back room smoking cigars.”
Read the full complaint below:
<a HACKED_LINKs://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3440966/Bob-Hoatson-complaint.pdf”>Bob Hoatson complaint (PDF)</a> <br /> <a HACKED_LINKs://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3440966/Bob-Hoatson-complaint.txt”>Bob Hoatson complaint (Text)</a>
Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
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