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Doug Forrester Cleared of Campaign Finance Wrongdoing NewsMax.com Wires TRENTON, N.J. -- Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Forrester won't be charged with violating campaign finance law, the state's attorney general said Thursday, although he added that the statute Democrats accuse Forrester of violating should be re-examined. The state law bars people with a majority interest in insurance or banking firms from contributing to political campaigns. Forrester, a multimillionaire majority owner in an insurance brokerage, has donated millions of dollars to his own campaign and hundreds of thousands to other GOP candidates. Forrester says his actions are legal because the brokerage is licensed in the District of Columbia, not New Jersey. "It's always nice to be vindicated," Forrester said Thursday. "We've known for a year now we've done everything right." The campaign of Democratic gubernatorial rival Sen. Jon Corzine, which requested the investigation, said Attorney General Peter Harvey's decision falls short of vindication. Story Continues Below
Corzine's campaign said the decision puts Forrester on notice that making future campaign contributions "may well constitute criminal violations of New Jersey's statutes." Harvey, a Democrat, left the door open for reviewing the law. "Prior attorneys general have issued opinions interpreting the statute at issue here. Some of those opinions have created exceptions that need to be re-evaluated, as they appear to be in conflict with the plain language of the statute," Harvey said. Forrester owns a majority stake in a prescription benefits management company, BeneCard Services Inc., and a related Washington, D.C.-based company, Heartland Fidelity Insurance Co., that insures the prices offered by BeneCard to its clients. Forrester and Corzine, a former Wall Street CEO, are largely financing their own campaigns in a Nov. 8 race that, at $45 million and counting, already has set spending records. Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey, who took office last year after James E. McGreevey resigned over a gay affair, decided not to seek a full term. Virginia is the only other state choosing a governor this year. John Farmer Jr., Forrester's lawyer and a former New Jersey attorney general, said the decision means his client is free to continue making contributions. But Farmer declined to say whether Forrester intended to do so. Some Democrats warned that any additional contributions Forrester made would be at his own risk, but Harvey showed no appetite for being drawn into a pre-election political fray. "We want to discourage people from inviting us into situations prior to the election and instead leave the issue of who is the better candidate to the voters," Harvey said.
© 2005 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
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