Dev Goswami is trying to wake people up in the 38th District with his independent run for state Assembly.

Goswami, a 29-year-old Fair Lawn resident making his first run for elective office, said New Jersey's system is corrupted by big money interests. He's a member of New Jersey Awakens, a grass-roots organization that is seeking to reform the state's political system by ending the process of redistricting known as gerrymandering and take power away from political parties and party leaders.

"We need to clean up the system," Goswami said on Friday, as the campaign entered its final weekend. "We need a lot more independents in the state legislature."

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Goswami favors public financing of elections, as well as ending corporate tax breaks as a first step toward addressing the state's high property taxes. Instead of corporate tax breaks, he says the state should fund business incubators to assist start-up companies.

Goswami is not expected to win, but he could be a factor in the District 38 assembly race. Democratic incumbents Tim Eustace and Joseph Lagana are believed to be locked in a tight battle with Republican challengers Chris Wolf and Bill Leonard.

Although Wolf and Leonard are relative unknowns, their running mate, Kelly Langschultz, has mounted an aggressive campaign against incumbent Robert M. Gordon in the Senate race. Langschultz has raised well over $200,000; the Democratic ticket more than twice that amount to spend on getting the vote out.

Goswami said his campaign is about running against the system and what he calls "our culture of corruption."

"We need to bring independent-minded folks who don't go along with the party bosses" to the state legislature, he said. Goswami last year worked as a volunteer for Democrat Josh Gottheimer in his winning bid to unseat Republican Scott Garret in the 5th Congressional District.

Goswami said he works as a policy analyst for New Jersey Awakens. He is one of two candidates the organization is running in state races; the other is Sumantha Prasad, who is running for Assembly in District 22.

New Jersey Awakens is led by Dana Wefer, an attorney who is originally from Morris County. Wefer ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for Morris County freeholder in 2005 and 2006, and for state Assembly in District 25 in 2007.