NJ-02: A Kennedy strikes a blow to New Jersey's most powerful political machine
George Norcross, a wealthy insurance executive, has for decades run New Jersey’s most vaunted Democratic political machine, a seemingly unstoppable behemoth that carries huge influence over who leads the state Legislature and what bills become law.
But after a series of political and legal setbacks over the past year, culminating in Amy Kennedy’s landslide primary victory Tuesday over a Norcross-backed candidate in southern New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District, some Democrats see signs that the machine’s grip on power is starting to slip.
It’s a stunning turn of events. Just over a year ago Norcross, incensed by a state investigation that dug up dirt on his insurance brokerage and his allies, made a semi-veiled threat of a primary challenge to Gov. Phil Murphy.
Fourteen months later, the question in New Jersey political circles isn’t whether the governor will face such a challenge. Rather, it’s just how weakened the Norcross machine has become, and whether his most influential ally, state Senate President Steve Sweeney, has reached the end of his time atop the chamber after more than a decade in power.
https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2020/07/08/a-kennedy-strikes-a-blow-to-new-jerseys-most-powerful-political-machine-1298477
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