Dustin Racioppi, and Nicholas Pugliese

NorthJersey

While the one big-name Republican in Trenton is still considering whether to run for governor, Democrats plan to start deciding this month who among the growing field of candidates seeking to replace Chris Christie will get top billing on county primary ballots. And that process is a source of friction in a primary race with shades of the 2016 presidential contest as Democratic hopefuls try to out-maneuver early favorite Phil Murphy.

Murphy, the wealthy former U.S. ambassador to Germany, now faces more challenges in the months ahead. State Sen. Ray Lesniak confirmed on Friday that he is running for governor, first reported by Politico New Jersey. Lesniak, the second-longest serving member of New Jersey's Legislature, portrayed Murphy, who has never held elected office, as the “establishment” candidate because of his deep finances and early support from the state’s 21 county Democratic chairmen.

That support sprang Murphy, once a long shot, to the top of contention for the party’s nomination for governor. But another longtime legislator also running for governor, Assemblyman John Wisniewski, decried the Democrats’ lock-step support of Murphy and likened it to the national party’s backing of Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race. Wisniewski campaigned for Clinton’s opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and is running a similarly styled campaign.

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Like Sanders, Wisniewski is running as an outsider against the Democratic apparatus. His campaign pointed to upcoming conventions of two county organizations as the latest example of his institutional challenge.

The Democratic parties in Bergen and Monmouth counties plan to hold their conventions at the end of the month. They will vote on the order of the candidates’ names as they will appear on the primary ballot. The top position, or “county line,” is prized by candidates because it often means that person wins a primary election in that county. Murphy’s support by each county chairman likely means he will be awarded the county line in those counties.

Robert Becker, the campaign manager for Wisniewski, said the early conventions in Bergen and Monmouth are “bad for the party.”

“We think that this was decided to penalize candidates who haven’t been running for two-and-a-half years and don’t have $10 million in personal money to spend,” Becker said, referring the Murphy’s pledge to donate to his own campaign.

Monmouth County’s Democratic committee held its convention in January 2013, when it voted to award then-state Sen. Barbara Buono the county line. The committee’s interim chairwoman, Mary Foster, said in an email sent Thursday and obtained by The Record that it is holding the “mini-convention” so early because it thinks “this is important for Monmouth County’s continued statewide influence to be first, as we were four years ago.” Executive Director Matt Anderson added that "candidates have until the end of the month to talk with local leaders as well as make their case on the convention floor."

Bergen County Democratic Committee Chairman Lou Stellato said it has also been the organization’s “common practice” under his leadership to hold conventions in January during gubernatorial election years, and that it is open, meaning delegates are free to vote for their preferred candidate. Voting on the county line early gives candidates more time to “use the endorsement to their advantage.”

On Friday, Wisniewski allowed reporters to view 14 years’ worth of tax returns, a campaign custom that his campaign said also symbolizes the type of David-vs.-Goliath match-up the primary race will be. Murphy, a former Goldman Sachs executive, made $7.3 million in 2015, Politico New Jersey said.

Wisniewski, a lawyer who has served in the Assembly for two decades, averaged earnings of $140,000 between 2002 and 2005, according to his returns. After establishing his own law firm, Wisniewski had his best known financial year in 2007, earning $647,870, according to his returns.

Becker said the financial documents show that Wisniewski has done “OK” for his family the past several years, but he is “obviously not in the league of Phil Murphy.”

“Like most New Jerseyans, he understands the impact of taxes and property taxes and will work hard to represent their interests,” Becker said.

But Murphy’s campaign views the tax returns as showing just the type of insider politics Wisniewski rails against. His rise in income has coincided with his law firm securing contracts with municipalities.

In one of those towns, Keyport, a resident filed a complaint against Wisniewski, alleging he violated the local pay-to-play ordinance by using his campaign election fund to contribute nearly $18,000 to the Monmouth County Democratic Party during a period in which his law firm held a contract with the town. Keyport prohibits municipal contractors from donating more than $300. Wisniewski said in an interview last month that he did not violate the ordinance because he did not personally contribute, his election fund did. The complaint has been referred to Keyport’s attorney.

“These returns only confirm what we already knew: Trenton insider John Wisniewski has made millions of dollars from influence peddling and taxpayer-funded contracts provided through good old-fashioned pay-to-play transactional politics,” Derek Roseman, a spokesman for Murphy, said in an email.

Murphy could use the same line of attack against one of his newest opponents, Lesniak, whose law firm has won millions of dollars in public contracts over his many years in the Legislature. Lesniak said Friday that he has retired from the firm, Weiner Lesniak, to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest.

Despite four decades in the Legislature — he joined the Assembly in 1978 — Lesniak is also positioning himself as an outsider. He has built a reputation as a champion of progressive causes, including marriage equality, animal rights, environmental protection and criminal justice reform, and was a key sponsor of a 2007 bill ending the death penalty in New Jersey.

But Lesniak said his “transformational goal” is to make New Jersey affordable and “I just cannot do enough anymore in the Senate for these transformational issues.”

Lesniak gave as an example a bill he introduced earlier this year that would establish an Office of the Comptroller of Education to help rein in unauthorized spending and waste in the state’s public education system, the state’s largest expense. But the legislation hasn’t gained any traction, and Lesniak said Friday that only someone in the governor’s office has the influence to restructure large swaths of government to make it more efficient.

“This requires going against the establishment and, right now, the front-runner by far, because he’s spent so much money, is an establishment candidate,” he said, referring to Murphy. “One wouldn’t expect him to be able to do that, be interested in doing that or even know how to do that because he hasn’t served in government and has no record to prove what he stands for.”

Another Democratic candidate filed paperwork with the state to run for governor on Friday: Mark Zinna, a councilman in Tenafly. That brings the Democratic field to seven candidates.

But on the Republican side, observers are waiting to see if, or when, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno will declare her candidacy for governor. Her entry would make her the party’s instant front-runner over the three other candidates who have declared – Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, Nutley Commissioner Steve Rogers and Ocean County businessman Joseph Rullo.

Should Guadagno run, she is likely to be the last among Republicans. Another rumored contender, Assemblyman Jon Bramnick, said this week that he won’t run. He cited his role as the Republican leader in the Assembly as a significant factor in his decision.

“I’d like to, but it didn’t shape up,” Bramnick said. “I like what I do. I’m pretty happy.”