State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) said she doesn’t need Republicans to tell her to donate the $1,000 she received in campaign contributions from Dennis Oury, the former Bergen County Democratic counsel who pleaded guilty to corruption charges today.

“I’ve instructed my campaign to donate that money to the Jill Fader Breast Cancer Endeavor at Englewood Hospital which helps to pay for mammograms for uninsured women,” said Weinberg, the Democratic lieutenant governor candidate.

The decision has political bite, since Weinberg today took the lead in hammering Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie for supporting mandate free insurance that would allow health insurance companies to offer plans that do not cover mammograms, among other tests and procedures. 

Weinberg, a critic of Oury and Ferriero when they were in power, said she did not know why Oury made the two $500 donations to her campaign, which date back to 2004 and 2005.  

“I’m the one who supported the candidates who wound up getting rid of Dennis Oury in Bergenfield,” she said, referring to the ouster of Oury as Bergenfield’s borough attorney.  "Where were the Republicans when I was standing up to Dennis Oury?"

Oury pleaded guilty to concealing his ownership of a grant writing firm that secured $1.4 million in grants for Bergenfield – and $134,000 in fees to the company – after using his political clout to secure the grants.  His co-defendant, former Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero, is set to begin trial on Thursday.