TRENTON — Three Democratic state senators have asked state Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner to investigate allegations that a Republican lawmaker pressured two Superior Court judges in an attempt to secure former Attorney General Paula Dow's nomination to the bench,The Star-Ledger has learned.

In a June 21 letter to Rabner obtained by the newspaper, the three Essex County lawmakers — Richard Codey, Nia Gill and Ronald Rice — said two judges, then facing renomination, were told Gov. Chris Christie would "end their judicial careers" if they didn’t persuade Gill to agree to sign off on the governor’s nominee.

Although the letter did not identify those involved, two sources with knowledge of the incident said the judicial nominee was Dow, and that Sen. Kevin O’Toole (R-Essex) asked Assignment Judge Patricia Costello to approach Superior Court Judges Siobhan Teare and Verna Leath.

The sources requested anonymity because they are not authorized to release the names.

O’Toole denied the accusations and did not return later requests for further comment.

Christie subsequently nominated Dow to a Superior Court judgeship in Burlington County, which the Senate recently approved. Teare and Leath have since been reappointed and now have tenure.

The allegations add to the chaos surrounding judicial appointments in Essex County, where the Republican governor and Democratic lawmakers have been embroiled in a long feud.

In the letter, the Democrats said the senator contacted Costello about the renominations of two Superior Court judges there. The senator told Costello the judges would not be reappointed unless Gill signed off on the judicial nominee, the letter said.

"This senator then directed Judge Costello to ask both judges to contact Senator Gill and advise her to ‘sign off’ on the nominee," the letter said. "... Judge Costello then informed the judges that if they were unwilling or unable to convince Senator Gill to ‘sign off’ on the judicial nominees, the governor would end their judicial careers."

The sources said the judges did not approach Gill. Costello declined comment on the allegations.

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Under the longstanding practice of senatorial courtesy, senators must sign off on gubernatorial nominees, including judicial spots and cabinet posts.

Rabner responded to the senators in a June 22 letter that thanked them for bringing the matter to the attention of the court. Court spokeswoman Winnie Comfort confirmed Rabner responded, but declined to comment further.

The senators said they wrote to Rabner because O’Toole is an attorney and the Supreme Court has the authority to investigate allegations against lawyers for violations of rules of professional conduct. They also said the state’s code of judicial conduct prohibits judges from allowing their relationships to influence their conduct or judgment.

"It’s a very serious allegation and has to be looked into," Codey said. "It’s unfortunate something like this did happen. It would be very sad for the Senate and judiciary as well. It would bring a bad light to the way we conduct ourselves."

Gill said if the allegations are true, "it goes to the independence of the judiciary and the impartiality of the judicial process."

Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said Gill never signed off on Dow’s nomination in Essex and Christie renominated Teare and Leath, along with other Superior Court judges in Essex.

"From where we sit, this makes no sense at all," Drewniak said.

At a town hall meeting in Garfield on May 2, Christie said he would not rubber stamp judicial nominations because he wanted to ensure he had the best candidates. But sources told The Star-Ledger at the time that he also planned to dump several Superior Court judges, including some in Essex, in the battle over judicial appointments.

At the time, Teare’s and Leath’s terms were days from expiring and Christie had not renominated them. They were reappointed May 24, the same day Christie announced he would withdraw Dow’s nomination in Essex and resubmit it in Burlington County.

The judicial logjam in Essex, heading into its 18th month, resulted from 12 vacancies that Christie has refused to fill while seeking the Essex Democratic senators’ approval of Dow and of his education chief nominee Christopher Cerf.

Related coverage:

• Senate committee approves Paula Dow's nomination as Superior Court judge

• Former AG Paula Dow to get hearing on Superior Court judgeship this week

• Christie to withdraw nomination of former AG Paula Dow for judgeship in Essex, nominate her in Burlington