A day after a New Jersey political boss was convicted of corruption, Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie’s campaign yesterday hammered Gov. Jon Corzine for donating more than $400,000 over the past decade to the crooked power broker’s influential organization.
Even Corzine’s mother — a retired schoolteacher in Oak Park, Ill. — had handed over $37,000 to former Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joe Ferriero, who was convicted of conspiracy to defraud the town of Bergenfield and mail fraud.
“Try as he might, Jon Corzine can’t hide the fact that he and his family gave $441,600 to Joe Ferriero and his Bergen County Democratic Organization,” said Christie’s running mate, Kim Guadagno.
Christie’s camp blasted the Democratic governor for not standing up to Ferriero earlier.
“Governor Corzine failed to take a tough stance when Ferriero was indicted, instead allowing and promoting him as a delegate to the Democratic convention,” Guadagno said.
Corzine has denied allegations that he made the donation to curry favor with Ferriero. He says he donated because he wanted to support his party in densely populated Bergen County, a crucial voting bloc.