George Norcross protester incident highlights the NJ Democratic Party divide | Stile

Charles Stile | NorthJersey

Show Caption Hide Caption George E. Norcross III testifies before Senate committee on tax incentives program George E. Norcross III testifies before the New Jersey Senate committee established to review the state's tax incentive programs on November 18, 2019.

Activist Sue Altman stood behind an area cordoned off for protesters inside a stately Senate committee room, shortly before political power broker and her nemesis, George E. Norcross III, entered the room.

"I didn't get to my boxing [workout] this morning, so I'm feeling a little feisty," she told reporters and colleagues Monday.

But 15 minutes later, Altman, a former collegiate basketball player, proved no match for three burly New Jersey state troopers who hauled her out the room at the behest of the committee chairman, Sen. Bob Smith, D-Middlesex.

Smith was angered by a smattering of boos, apparently from a group of people at the back of the room. But surprisingly, the troopers went straight for Altman, who was over by a side window.

Altman resisted, slipping her hands from the troopers' grasp. But it was futile. Soon she was being dragged in front of cameras and stunned observers. "You're going to do that to a woman?'' yelled Vida Neil, an activist in a motorized wheelchair. Desperate thuggery, Altman later called it, "the last refuge of despots who have lost the debate over ideas."

But the incident also provided a telling moment of political symbolism. Altman, wearing a "Trenton Makes, Norcross Takes" sticker, was hauled within inches of the silver-maned Norcross, who sat impassively in a navy blue suit and purple tie, clutching a notebook, waiting for her to pass.

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For a brief moment, the bitter political and generational divide of the New Jersey Democratic Party was put into stark relief.

There was Altman, the executive director of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance, a forceful and articulate face of the new grassroots, pushed through a side door and outside to the Statehouse annex courtyard. She was on the outside looking in.

Norcross, the embodiment of the older, entrenched establishment, remained on the inside, carrying out a carefully planned and detailed push back performance, vigorously defending the use of lucrative state tax incentives that has come under the scrutiny of federal and state investigators. Norcross testified at length in front of the timid Senate Select Committee on Economic Growth Strategies.

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The two factions of the Democratic Party have been on a collision course for months now, sparring on Twitter and in news conferences in a thinly veiled battle for the party's soul and direction. Norcross has a power built over years that extends through both houses of the Legislature and through political networks in Essex, Middlesex and Union counties.

It's a machine that operates with smooth efficiency. Dissent is rarely allowed. Enemies are punished. Allies who keep their heads down are rewarded.

Few in Trenton are eager to cross him, as Monday's committee hearing demonstrated. Panel members from both parties tossed easy, Nerf-ball questions at him. They treated him with the courtesy afforded the head of state.

"Should the state of New Jersey reauthorize incentives?" Smith asked to kick off the questioning. Sen. Declan O'Scanlon, R-Monmouth, was hardly a Perry Mason-style inquisitor. At one point he told Norcross that if his testimony was accurate, "this has been a witch hunt."

Norcross is also a "conservative Democrat" who holds a trickle-down view of redevelopment, in which new corporations will bring jobs and rebirth to his troubled Camden. And tax incentives are crucial in realizing that vision.

Altman and the activists, who have chafed under Norcross and his affiliates — most importantly his childhood friend, Stephen Sweeney, the Senate president — say his Horatio Alger mythologizing of Camden is a cover story for reaping millions of dollars in taxpayer benefit for himself and his close allies.

ProPublica and WNYC reported earlier this year that Norcross allies and entities linked to him received $1.1 billion of the $1.6 billion in corporate tax incentives guided to Camden since 2013. Norcross disputed some of those numbers Monday, but unapologetically asserted that he used all his personal lobbying power to persuade companies to move to Camden.

"I asked friends. I asked business partners. I asked strangers. I made personal visits to companies,'' he said. "They took great risks, personal and business," to move there, he added.

But Norcross' opponents also argue that Norcross' power has blocked the path of the more progressive agenda of Gov. Phil Murphy, who has embraced the growing, loose-knit constellation of mostly suburban activists. Murphy, who has openly feuded with Norcross and Sweeney, sent out a tweet condemning Altman's removal from the hearing.

The forceful removal of @SueAltman from today’s tax incentives hearing is completely outrageous and unacceptable. Every senator on that committee owes her a direct apology.



Dissent will always be a part of our American fabric. — Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) November 18, 2019

In a wider sense, the crusade by Murphy and his allies on the tax incentives is really a proxy for a wider battle for power. It's an ambitious plan: rein in and reform the tax incentive program and possibly break Norcross' grip on the Legislature.

As a result, a new, more transparent party may emerge from the shadows, one where dissenters are not dragged from committee rooms. They may just have a seat at the table.

But this was Norcross' day. His defense of the tax incentive program was forceful and prepared.

He cast himself as driven solely by a civic spirit, a desire to rebuild a city where he got his start in a small office with only "a card table, a folding chair and a phone." He was standing alone to face the criticism — even though supporters from Camden unions were bused into the hearing and, at times, hooted down the activists.

"I am here today to speak for myself — not through lawyers or spokespeople — to defend Camden and correct the many misstatements, mischaracterizations and outright mistruths that are having a serious negative impact on the revitalization of the city," Norcross said of his hometown.

Yet, for all his preparation, there was a sense that the ground was shifting. The fact that Norcross, who usually avoids the public eye, was there at all, defending himself, suggested that he is no longer inviolable.

Maybe it was his failure to persuade the courts to halt a special investigatory panel in the tax program. Or maybe it was the poor performance of the legislative candidates his forces backed in this month's elections.

And maybe it was the angry critics, hooting "Take down King George" as he entered the room, or chanting "FBI,'' a reference to reports of federal investigations into the tax program. Or maybe it's Altman and her minions now nipping at his heels in Camden County almost every day.

"This movement is not derailed; it's not going away,'' Altman said after the hearing was over. "It's not just me. It's people from all across the county, all across the state, or intimidated,'' she said. "That time is over."

But Norcross is a resilient, shrewd political tactician and businessman who has wielded power for more than 30 years. It began in that small office in Camden. And Monday, it was Norcross who exited the committee room on his own terms.

Charlie Stile is New Jersey’s preeminent political columnist. For unlimited access to his unique insights into New Jersey’s political power structure and his powerful watchdog work, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: stile@northjersey.com Twitter: @politicalstile