TRENTON —Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Lonegan is challenging the validity of his only primary opponent's petition to run for office.

Lonegan attorney Michael Daily filed the challenge with the state Division of Elections and said in a press release today that his opponent, Dr. Alieta Eck, falsely claimed to have collected signatures herself.

Daily also claims that some signers were either registered Democrats or non-voters, and that witness signatures by Eck and others were not properly notarized.

Lonegan spokesman Rick Shaftan said that if the allegations are true, “it indicates fraud on the part of the candidate by knowingly signing a statement that she had witnessed the signatures on the petitions when that is not the case.”

Shaftan said the Lonegan campaign has a hearing Monday morning before an administrative law judge.

A spokeswoman for Eck could not immediately be reached for comment.

Eck turned in well over 2,000 signatures to run on Monday, while Lonegan submitted more than 7,000. They are facing off to run for the seat that had been held by the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who died two weeks ago. Four Democrats are running in that party’s primary: Newark Mayor Cory Booker, U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone (D-6th Dist) and Rush Holt (D-12th Dist.) and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex).

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