South Jersey political strategist resigns amid Democrats' power struggle

A top South Jersey political strategist has resigned as head of the Assembly Democrats' campaign arm amid a power struggle over who will lead the caucus next year as speaker.

The fight has pit Speaker Vincent Prieto (D., Hudson) and some of his North Jersey allies against a coalition of Democrats from South Jersey, Middlesex County, and elsewhere who want to replace Prieto after November's elections.

The South Jersey faction — led by insurance and hospital executive George E. Norcross III — brokered a deal months ago with Middlesex County Democrats and others to elect Assemblyman Craig Coughlin as speaker.

That deal came as Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester) sought to secure support for another term as leader of the upper chamber. Sweeney and Prieto have clashed over a number of issues, such as Atlantic City's financial crisis.

All 120 seats in the Legislature are on November's ballot. Members will elect their legislative leaders after the elections.

After Coughlin said last week that he had enough support to win the speakership, Prieto on Friday pushed back, taking control of the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee's bank account and sidelining the executive director, Michael Muller. The two met Friday. Prieto also ousted a Coughlin supporter from a committee chairmanship.

Among Coughlin's supporters is Muller's wife, Carol Murphy, who is the favorite to win an open Assembly seat that represents Burlington County.

Muller, who was executive director for 15 years, announced Wednesday that he and the entire campaign committee's staff were resigning. Democrats, who control 52 of the Assembly's 80 seats, hold their biggest elected majority in 40 years. Under his leadership, Muller said, Democrats had "secured the most Democratic gains of any chamber in America since President Obama won the White House."

In a letter to Prieto announcing his resignation, Muller wrote: "I've struggled to find merit in your move to seize financial control and restrict my authority spanning 15 years, especially since your political committee has not written a check to support the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee since 2015."

Muller also wrote that he was upset by a statement the speaker's spokesman issued last week that "suggested a litmus test for Democratic state Assembly candidates to pass for your support, rather than electing as many Democrats as possible." Muller said Prieto also had not paid staff.

Prieto's spokesman, Phil Swibinski, said Wednesday that the speaker accepted Muller's resignation and planned "to move forward with his goal of helping elect Democrats throughout the state who will join his fight for progressive values by utilizing DACC and any other means at his disposal to support their candidacies."

"As chairman of the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee, Speaker Prieto simply requested basic information and transparency about staffing and expenses so that he could review them and ensure that they met his expectations for the committee's activities," Swibinski said in a statement.

"Unfortunately, this information was not provided to the speaker, and a meeting that had been scheduled yesterday to discuss these issues was canceled."

Muller, who is also head of the Senate Democrats' campaign arm, said he and his staff would focus their efforts there. However, Democrats can funnel Senate campaign cash to competitive Assembly races.

In addition, independent-expenditure groups, such as the Norcross-allied General Majority PAC, can spend an unlimited amount of money on ads and other materials to support candidates.

On Thursday, the super PAC is holding a fund-raiser in Collingswood with the actor Alec Baldwin. Tickets are $2,500 per guest.

This article has been updated to clarify that Democrats can use Senate campaign funds in Assembly races.