- Associated Press - Saturday, February 4, 2017

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A top Democratic candidate for New Jersey governor helped cement his status through hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to local parties, earning key establishment support along the way.

Since early 2015, Democratic candidate Phil Murphy contributed to most of the state’s county Democratic parties, as well as the Democratic State Committee, totaling about $250,000, according to Election Law Enforcement Commission records analyzed by The Associated Press.

Murphy has since won endorsements from county party chairpersons, key unions and the state’s two U.S. senators, Cory Booker and Bob Menendez, ahead of the November general election, where the stakes are high for Democrats confident they’ll win back the governorship after Republican Gov. Chris Christie, who is term limited, leaves office.

But his deep pockets - he has loaned his campaign about $10 million - are also giving the state’s former Sanders campaign chairman, Assemblyman John Wisniewski, fodder for attacks. It’s emerging as a theme in the Democratic primary, with Wisniewski taking up the populist battle cry Sanders used against his primary opponent Hillary Clinton, calling for voters to stem the effort to “coronate” Murphy.

“Our opponent continues to try and rig this election with his Goldman Sachs wealth,” Wisniewski said in a recent fundraising pitch, referring to Murphy’s former employer. Murphy worked as an executive at Goldman Sachs, leaving in 2006.

Murphy’s campaign pushes back against the implication that he’s buying influence, arguing that the money helped build the party in Republican-leaning counties, like Morris, and supporters say he’s earned grass-roots support.

“Phil Murphy is a strong believer in ensuring that Democrats are competitive all across our state. That is why he is proud to have invested his time, money, and resources in strengthening our grassroots by helping Democratic organizations in red counties,” said Murphy spokesman Derek Roseman.

The donations have raised comparisons to former Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, who lost re-election to Republican Gov. Chris Christie in 2009 and who also donated heavily to county parties, and who - like Murphy - worked at Goldman Sachs. In 2000, when Corzine first sought elected office to the Senate, he contributed about $500,000 to local parties.

To his opponents and experts, Murphy is pouring cash into the contest to influence the outcome.

“To me it smacks of a candidate buying the nomination. That is certainly his prerogative. I would caution that we’ve been down this road before in the form of Jon Corzine,” said Montclair State University political science professor Brigid Harrison.

It’s unclear whether Murphy’s cash advantage and establishment support will overcome populist slogans backed by Wisniewski and other Democrats competing, such as Clinton administration official Jim Johnson, but Clinton did beat Sanders in New Jersey.

She, like Murphy, had establishment support and a cash advantage.

The donations, which are allowed under the law, include contributions of more than $100,000 to Bergen County Democrats, but also tens of thousands to the parties in Middlesex, Monmouth, Passaic and Union counties. The state Democratic Party received $36,000. In contrast Wisniewski has given around $5,000 to county parties, records show.

LeRoy Jones, who chairs the Essex County Democrats, called Murphy capable and skilled. Murphy’s resume includes stints as an executive at Goldman Sachs, finance chairman for the Democratic National Committee and as Barack Obama’s ambassador to Germany.

The donations help, though. They go to support a network of about 1,100 district leaders in Essex, for example, who will knock on doors on Election Day. They get $100 for their work. Murphy’s giving will help finance that, Jones said.

“It established himself as a serious Democratic loyalist. He wanted to help the party and it showed he wasn’t just talk,” he said. He added later: “I don’t think anything was for sale. If you have resources and you want to help the law allows you to do that.”

Lou Stellato, chairman of the Democratic Committee of Bergen County, disputed the idea that Murphy’s donations influenced the party’s nomination process, which Murphy won with nearly 90 percent of the vote last week.

“That transcends any idea that people bought you off. It’s a mandate. It’s ground swell of support,” he said.

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