MERCER'S HUGHES CALLS ON CHRISTIE TO RETURN PAY TO PLAY CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS FROM NO-BID CONTRACT RECIPIENT

Mercer’s Hughes Calls on Christie to Return Pay to Play Campaign Contributions From No-Bid Contract Recipient

County Executive: Ex U.S. Attorney Should Refund State Taxpayer Matching Funds

TRENTON- In response to published reports that Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher J. Christie has accepted significant campaign contributions questionable under pay-to-play and no-bid contract rules, Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes is calling on Christie to pay back the money.

Reports show that Christie accepted almost $24,000 from the principals and spouses of a law firm to which Christie had appointed a nearly $8 million no-bid contract while he was still in control of the U.S. Attorneys’ office.

According to ELEC reports, the Roseland-based law firm Stern and Kilcullen’s partners, Herbert Stern, Kevin Kilcullen and John Inglesino, and their wives, all contributed the maximum amount permitted by law: $3,400. According to reports, Inglesino also contributed the maximum allowed -- $3,400 -- from an election fund, totaling a staggering $23,800.
 
Hughes decried the contributions. “I have very serious concerns about Mr. Christie’s judgment in that he accepted money from people that were appointed by him to a multimillion dollar no-bid contract,” Hughes said. “This type of behavior is contrary to the type of campaign and no-bid contract reform we have been working toward in Mercer County and throughout New Jersey,” added Hughes, who made Mercer County the first in New Jersey – and quite possibly in the nation – to ban the practice of pay-to-play by strictly limiting political contributions from individuals or entities seeking to do business with the County. This focus on ethics reform also led Hughes to create the County’s first Office of Inspector General.

“Mr. Christie should return the $23,800 he has received from Mr. Stern, his partners and their wives and also return whatever state matching funds he may have already received as a result of these contributions,” Hughes implored.

State financing laws dictate that candidates who have raised at least $340,000 qualify for state campaign funds at the rate of $2 in public money for every $1 collected. The $23,800 put forward by Stern, Inglesino and Kilcullen would translate to almost $47,600 in state taxpayer money, for a total of $71,400, according to files with ELEC.

During his seven year tenure as U.S. Attorney under President Bush, Christie engineered the deferred prosecution agreement and selected Stern and Kilcullen to monitor the operations of the University and Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. The lucrative no-bid contract reportedly paid the firm more than $8 million. Among the firm’s tasks were to ensure that UMDNJ no longer allowed no-bid contracts.

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