In Star Wars, Anakin Skywalker believes that the only method to “bring balance” is through the dark side, using authority to control the galaxy, from his perspective, for the greater good. Similar to Skywalker — who, ironically, swears to protect all from the very evil that he becomes — politicians take office with promises of improving societal issues, and, sometimes, these politicians become the very problem rather than a part of a solution. Robert Menendez, a former United States senator; Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor; and George Norcross, a Democratic power broker have all recently garnered corruption accusations and failed, to differing extents, to properly balance their self-interests with morality.
New Jersey politics aren’t all dark, though. Current New Jersey Sen. James Beach, former New Jersey Lieutenant Gov. Kimberly Guadagno and current U.S. Congressman Andy Kim have all navigated through the political realm without involving themselves in corrupt affairs. By steering clear of corruption, avoiding the temptations politicians may encounter and implementing solutions that provide accountability, these three hope to restore the public’s perception of political figures. Eastside, in three separate interviews, discusses the power, price and pompousness of political corruption in New Jersey and across the U.S. with Beach, Guadagno and Kim.
Indeed, New Jersey, with a long history of political corruption, has accumulated a shattered reputation for having a distrustful government. To what extent, though, has this reputation worsened?
“The political atmosphere that I grew up in, I prefer to think, had a lot of checks and balances. I got into politics, I thought, for the right reasons, but what you’re seeing in politics right now is pretty ugly. It’s a shame because it kind of scares you away,” said Guadagno.
With such sentiments, it can be difficult for New Jersey citizens to fully depend on their government. In fact, when Menendez received his indictment, many were unsurprised by the scandal’s emergence, further embracing their skepticism of the government.
“I remember when I talked to my neighbor the day that Sen. Menendez got indicted, and I remember asking him, ‘What do you think of this indictment of the senator?’ He was like, ‘That’s New Jersey,’ which is why I very much hope that we can start a new era of politics where we can move away from that corruption and show that we can do something impactful,” said Kim.
Amid increasing citizen distrust, it’s extremely important to identify the root of its causes and determine solutions. Doing so can be difficult when the politicians who hold the power to force greater political transparency refuse since they’re the ones typically benefiting from the current system.
“Money [tends] to [dictate] so many politician’s decisions, and we have to be more transparent about this,” said Beach. “There are so many cameras to the point where it’s hard to get away with [any questionable act], but, there are [politicians] who are not going to [voluntarily give up] the power and control that they have because they don’t want anyone catching them.”
What can we do, then, if too many entrenched politicians act in the best interest of themselves rather than for the people?
“We need to be willing to call [political corruption] out. You know, for me, that means that I was willing to stand up, even to leaders in my own party. There are still some people trying to stop us from moving in the right direction. There are challenges and problems that we face with the county lines and campaign finance issues. … I think we have to make sure that we’re continuing to try to reform, and I think it’s important to have people in office who have a reform agenda, who recognize that we need to be able to change this trajectory,” said Kim.
“Recently, it’s kind of sad to see that [New Jersey] has pulled back on some of the transparency provisions that were provided for in some of these new laws. I wasn’t in office when they cut the legs out from under ELEC [Election Law Enforcement Commission] and made it impossible to have any teeth, so, right now, I would want to rewrite the ELEC laws and put them back where they were because we went backward instead of forward,” said Guadagno.
With the recent election, gerrymandering — an illegal tactic where political parties manipulate district boundaries to gain an electoral advantage, thus choosing their voters instead of allowing voters to choose their representatives — highlights one of the most concerning acts of political corruption. Kim, at the federal level, advocates for passing legislation ending gerrymandering and requiring independent commissions.
“In so many states around the country, people in political office or in the political world are, basically, able to draw whatever maps that they want. That’s really skewing our policies, and that’s dangerous. It’s certainly one of the primary issues that needs to be addressed because it can cause a snowball effect on the political party and the people with the power,” said Kim.
These problems extend beyond simply gerrymandering, however. In fact, Guadagno believes that political party polarization and greed act as the most significant incentives, particularly in New Jersey, to embrace corruption.
“There are a lot of different kinds of public corruption, but some would argue that the political machine itself is one of the main drivers of that corruption because once you affiliate yourself with a certain party, and you are in control, then there aren’t many people looking over your shoulder and checking what your [responsibility] is. … The second [factor] is that [New Jersey is] pretty close to some of the wealthiest people in the world in New York City, so you can see that the temptation to take money from the rich and give it to yourself is almost sometimes too great to pass up for some politicians,” said Guadagno.
Of course, several restrictions and advancements are in place to prevent political corruption. With the rise in technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI), it appears increasingly difficult to avoid corrupt transactions going unnoticed.
“You’re being watched like a hawk. … [AI] is going to be a pretty [significant] change, and everything is going to be all over social media. So, in terms of cameras and videotapes, the government is pretty transparent, but, somehow, some people, at first, are slipping through the cracks,” said Beach.
“In instances of corruption, you’d have to ship your money offshore; you’d have to be in crypto. There’s a paper trail, or now an electronic trail, of just about all the money that you get as a politician. … When you look at Sen. Menendez, the FBI agents followed his paper trail and literally walked into the bedroom and stumbled upon gold bars. It shows how far some surveillance can really go,” said Guadagno.
Nevertheless, corruption still remains prevalent, and surveillance, by no means, acts as the final solution to ending such problems. Thus, beyond attempting to address corruption through cameras and legislation, the community can contribute, too.
“Show up and ask questions. Go to your school board meetings. Go to your town meetings. If you do not show up, then, you’re absolutely letting people walk through the door of corruption. I mean, it only takes one person to go to a meeting every day and start asking hard questions, and that tempers politicians. [The community] can change outcomes, and people don’t show up enough, and it’s hard in New Jersey because you have 21 counties and a ton of school districts, so it’s hard to show up to everything, but you have to vote, and you have to show up, and you have to read about your candidates,” said Guadagno.
With 14 electoral votes in the recent 2024 election, New Jersey has played a role in choosing which presidential candidate they believe will best address current national and international conflicts while, simultaneously, abiding by democracy and protecting the basic rights of all U.S. citizens. Perhaps even more important, though, are the New Jersey local and legislative branch elections.
Kim, who ran for Menendez’s vacant Senate position, hopes to avoid the corruption pitfalls of his predecessor by continuing to advocate for legislative policies to combat such corruption and by appeasing the common citizen’s needs.
“I’m actively pushing legislation to make changes. I don’t take corporate tax money to make sure that we don’t have the perception that I’m being influenced by special interests. … I do, for instance, [host] town halls; I’ve done now 80 town halls, and that allows me to just anchor myself in the concerns of regular people and not get caught up with just the political elite and economic elite of this country. … Those are actions that I’m very much abiding by and continuing to engage on. … I think the more that I can do that, the more I can build this sense that we have a new era of politics going forward,” said Kim.
Ultimately, as we uncover New Jersey’s vast history of political scandals and hear from Beach, Guadagno and Kim — the voices of those who’ve witnessed corruption firsthand — the true cost of a corrupt mindset emerges. It’s concerning to observe the lengths to which numerous politicians would go in an attempt to satisfy their desires. As the public’s trust in our government dissolves gradually, we’re left to ask: is any wealth worth such a hefty price?
