NJ Progressives Blast Booker Fundraiser With Norcross, DiVincenzo

BELLEVILLE, NJ — They’re with U.S. Sen. Cory Booker when it comes to ICE, fighting for underserved Americans and pledging to refuse “dark money” from corporate PACs and federal lobbyists. But now it’s time for Booker to walk the walk when it comes to the way he funds his 2020 presidential campaign, according to a group of New Jersey progressives.

On Friday, members of the statewide coalition Take Back NJ wrote a letter to Booker, asking him to reconsider a June 28 fundraiser in Belleville allegedly spearheaded by embattled political insider George Norcross and Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr., both longtime power players in Booker's own Democratic Party.

Norcross is joining with DiVincenzo to raise money for Booker at a $2,800-per-person noon luncheon at Nanina’s in the Park in Belleville, the New Jersey Globe reported.

According to Booker’s campaign website, he’s also due to appear at a “Hometown Happy Hour” event at Redd's Biergarten in Carlstadt later that evening.

On Booker’s campaign website, his team writes that the senator supports Citizens United and getting dark money out of politics. “That’s why we’re rejecting donations from corporate PACs and federal lobbyists,” the website states.

Patch reached out to Sen. Booker for comment and will update this article with any reply we receive.

'STAND BY YOUR VALUES'

Here’s what Take Back NJ wrote in their June 21 letter to Sen. Booker:

“As members of the statewide coalition Take Back NJ, we are concerned with a recent inconsistency between your national posture and your relationship with your constituents in New Jersey. We admire your stance on ICE, your pledge not to take PAC money, and your advocacy for the underserved, and yet we feel that these convictions are undermined by your acceptance of a fundraiser hosted by George Norcross and Joe DiVincenzo.

“The evidence presented on June 17 by the Tax Incentive Task Force suggests that Norcross and his associates not only took unfair advantage of New Jersey’s Economic Development Authority’s programs, but that they engineered the program by leveraging unethically obtained access and influence to implement regulations favorable to themselves, their friends, and their families. As stated in the report, the misuse of this program amounts to a loss of $11 billion in potential tax revenue for New Jersey. Associating with Norcross at this point is a betrayal of your own constituents, particularly those who live in Camden and who have been deprived of the economic development that their community was entitled to. The Economic Development Task Force has made one criminal referral so far, yet most believe this story is far from over, and that more corruption and wrongdoing will be revealed.

“Meanwhile, Joe DiVincenzo runs a detention center for immigrants that is so inhumane that it has failed an inspection by the Department of Homeland Security; which has documented rotting food, clogged toilets, unwarranted strip searches, and the misuse of solitary confinement. No one who is sympathetic to the plight of immigrants in our country under the Trump administration can turn a blind eye to the conditions at this center. It is wrong to normalize cruelty toward the detainees— and yet your continued association with him does just that.

“The age of cronyism, corruption, and political bosses needs to be over in New Jersey. We are determined to rid our state of political bosses and the undemocratic influence they wield. We ask that you stand with us instead of with them. We ask that you stand by your values and your integrity and reject Mr. Norcross’s and Mr. DiVincenzo’s fundraiser.”

Members of Take Back NJ include: Blue Jersey, Essex Rising, Good Government Coalition of NJ, Hudson County Progressive Alliance, Indivisible Central NJ, Indivisible Cranbury, Indivisible NJ 5th District, JOLT, Mahwah After the March, NJ-08 For Progress, NJ11th for Change, NJ7 Forward, New Jersey Working Families Alliance, Our Revolution Essex County, People Demanding Action NJ, People for Progress, SOMA Action, South Jersey Women for Progressive Change, STAND Central NJ, Westfield 20/20, Women for Progress.

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