Controversial and mendacious political consultant James Devine was sentenced to two years on probation and a $182 fine for filing fake nominating petitions in the 2021 Democratic gubernatorial primary.
Devine, 62, admitted to filing 1,948 fraudulent signatures to get shadowy perennial candidate Lisa McCormick, his life partner, on the primary ballot more than three years ago.
“I find that because of the pattern of conduct that was involved here, this didn’t involve one fraudulent elections nomination certificate, it involved thousands of them,” said Superior Court Judge Robert Lytle. “That means each time that Mr. Devine filled out a false nomination certificate, he made a separate decision each and every time to do that.”
Lytle said Devine “had multiple opportunities then to come to the realization that what he was doing was not just wrong, not just undermine our political system, but that it was criminal conduct.”
“He disregarded those opportunities and instead continued down that unfortunate path,” Lytle said.
An administrative law judge determined the petitions to be “fraudulently created without any input from actual voters,” the matter was referred to the attorney general’s office by Secretary of State Tahesha Way.
McCormick had filed to challenge Gov. Phil Murphy in the Democratic primary two years ago when an executive order during the COVID-19 pandemic permitted candidates to file nominating petitions with electronic signatures. She was not charged.
“As it turns out, I made a stupid and careless mistake, and it’s been a heavy burden just to have that enough, Devine said. “However, as far as being a political consultant and being an active citizen, I don’t think that’s a likelihood of committing a crime. I think that’s an obligation that all of us have as citizens.”
Assistant Attorney General Andrew Wellbrock said this was a negotiated plea agreement.
“This is a very serious offense,” he said. “We are at a time in our country where people question the validity of elections, and any instance of election fraud, I think, needs to be treated by the court very seriously.”
Wellbrock said that “security needs to be paramount” and that Devine gave people a reason to believe unfounded complaints of election fraud.
A grand jury indicted Devine in March after a 37-month criminal investigation. The political gremlin unsuccessfully sought to participate in the state’s pretrial intervention program.
Devine told the court that he continues to work as a political consultant but is not currently working for any candidate.
“He’s continuing that line of work. I hope he has learned his lesson,” said Wellbrock. “But I do think there is a risk that the defendant will re-offend again.”
Lytle asked Devine if he was retired or still working for compensation.
“Well, I’m not working for any candidate for compensation,” he said.
But Devine appears to have omitted his work for a suspicious news site that lists McCormick as its publisher.
Lytle, who said the offense “involved fraudulent or deceptive practices, placed no restrictions on Devine’s political activity or use of the Internet.
The counsel to the Democratic State Committee, Raj Parikh, alleged that McCormick’s petition resulted from a mail merge of an outdated voter database. He produced multiple witnesses who testified that they never signed the petitions even though their names appeared as signatories.
Devine was McCormick’s campaign manager and the circulator of her petitions. He faced up to thirteen years in state prison if convicted on three counts of falsifying petitions, tampering with public records, and falsifying public records.
During the 2020 congressional primary in New Jersey’s 12th district, McCormick and Devine allegedly sent emails using the congresswoman’s campaign letterhead in an attempt to trick voters into believing that Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing), one of the most progressive members of the state’s House delegation, backed then-President Donald Trump.
Watson Coleman asked authorities to investigate the fake emails after one trafficked anti-Semitic tropes to smear her. She also called out McCormick for sending out an email using the congresswoman’s campaign logo and showing the sender at BWC Updates to make it look like it was the incumbent’s press release.
The following year, Watson Coleman urged the attorney general to investigate allegations of fraudulent McCormick for Governor petitions.
“The lack of consequences for questionable tactics, including a website that stole my identity and failing to file any required FEC reports, only encourages these immoral candidates to escalate their apparent crimes,” Watson Coleman said.
State Sen. Joseph Cryan (D-Union) had also sought a probe, saying that Devine and McCormick “have repeatedly shown they have no concern for the law.”
Later in 2021, Devine and McCormick were accused of fabricating a racist quote from State Sen. Cryan’s campaign manager on a menacing website they ran that was made to look like one run by the Democratic State Committee. McCormick is the website’s publisher, but Devine is widely viewed as the site’s leader.
Superior Court Judge Alan Lesnewich issued a restraining order against Devine after the Democrats filed a lawsuit against Devine and McCormick, alleging that the two seek to confuse voters by suggesting that some school board candidates have the backing of top Democratic officials. Murphy’s photo appeared on the mailers, and Democrats worry that the two are falsely giving the impression that they represent the state Democratic Party.
A trademark lawsuit filed by the Democratic State Committee against Devine and McCormick in 2022 is pending in the U.S. District Court.
In 2018, the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission levied a $120,000 fine against a political action committee run by Devine for failing to file contributors or expenditures between 2005 and 2010.
Devine also faced allegations that he diverted $2,244 in campaign funds for then-Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz to pay for overdue child support. Devine worked for Diaz in 2008, but the two later separated.
McCormick has never filed a campaign finance report with ELEC or the Federal Election Commission in multiple bids for public office. The perennial candidate has lost bids for Union County Clerk in 2010, Rahway Council in 2014, U.S. Senate in 2018, Union County Surrogate in 2019, and the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020.
Devine challenged Rahway Mayor Samson Steinman in the 2014 Democratic primary but lost by 57 percentage points. In 1991, he sought the Democratic nomination for State Assembly but lost the primary by nearly 2,000 votes against Elizabeth Mayor Thomas Dunn.
He got into trouble in 2005 when he was caught running a fake website that purported to be the official campaign site of two Republican Assembly candidates, Sam Thompson (R-Old Bridge) and Amy Handlin (R-Middletown). That site slammed Monmouth County Sheriff Joseph Oxley, and claimed Thompson and Handlin supported same-sex marriage and medical marijuana when those issues fared poorly among Republican voters.
Devine was working for the two Democratic candidates.
He made national headlines in 2017 after the shooting of then-House Majority Whip Steve Scalise; Devine indicated it was time for Democrats to go “hunting” and tweeted the hashtag “#HuntRepublicans.” Tucker Carlson called him “unbalanced.”