Turmoil rocks New Jersey’s Democratic political bosses just in time for an election

By MIKE CATALINI
Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Being a political boss in New Jersey ain’t what it used to be. Monday’s indictment on racketeering charges of Democratic power broker George E. Norcross III by state Attorney General Matt Platkin caps a series of blows to influential figures in the state’s dominant political party. The chaos adds to a sense of turbulence in the blue state stronghold. Among them is the federal bribery case against Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, who’s pleaded not guilty in a New York trial that’s still underway. There’s also the fall this year of a century-old, unique-to-New Jersey primary ballot system that allowed party bosses to give preferred placement to endorsed candidates.