New Jersey campaign manager admits trying to get candidate on 2021 gubernatorial ballot through fraud | State

A campaign manager has admitted to falsifying documents to get a candidate on the ballot for the 2021 New Jersey gubernatorial election.

James Devine, 62, of Lambertville, Hunterdon County, pleaded guilty Monday to a charge related to nomination petitions in an election, the New Jersey Attorney General's Office said.

Devine was trying to get a candidate on the ballot for the 2021 Democratic primary for governor, authorities said.

Investigators found that he had submitted nearly 2,000 fraudulent nomination petitions to the state election office.

The New Jersey Democratic State Committee challenged the plan in April 2021, and a judge removed the candidate from the ballot, citing filing irregularities, officials said.

Individuals whose names appeared on the petitions stated that they had neither submitted nor authorized a petition.

Devine was indicted on several counts by a grand jury in March of this year.