A Senate panel unanimously advanced a measure that would bar prosecutors and the state attorney general from seeking or holding elected office for three years after they leave their position Thursday.
The measure, sponsored by former Gov. Dick Codey (D-Roseland) and State Sen. Nick Sacco (D-North Bergen), also bars such officials from seeking elected office while they hold their positions.
“We shouldn’t put people who want to run for public office and use that position to make a case for themselves. Instead of making the right decision on behalf of the people, they make the best decision for them politically,” Codey said. “It’s wrong. It shouldn’t be tolerated”
If passed, the bill would prevent Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and First Assistant Attorney General Andrew Bruck from wading into electoral politics. Over Murphy’s first term, Grewal has emerged as a strong critic of President Donald Trump and has launched numerous suits against the Trump administration.
The bill wouldn’t have stopped former Gov. Chris Christie from running his 2009 gubernatorial campaign.
The measure doesn’t impose any limits on the political ambitions of federal prosecutors. Christie, a former U.S. attorney, launched his gubernatorial campaign a little more than a month after giving up his prosecutorial post.
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