AG ASKED TO PROBE FORRESTER:

A state election panel has forwarded a top Democratic lawmaker’s request for a probe into campaign contributions made by GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Forrester to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.

Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Roberts (D-Camden) has asked the state Election Law Enforcement Commission to investigate whether Forrester violated state law by contributing to Republican committees and candidates while owning an insurance company. Fourteen other Democratic Assembly candidates have filed similar requests with ELEC.

Roberts’ request came after a ruling by Banking and Insurance failed to clear up whether the related company, Heartland Fidelity Insurance Co., falls under the New Jersey law.

At issue is $37,500 in contributions by Forrester to the Republicans’ political action committee for their Assembly candidates. The statute in question falls under New Jersey’s criminal code. The law was designed to prevent undue corporate influence and bars those with a majority interest in insurance or banking firms from contributing to political campaigns.