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GOP candidate withdraws from primary following investigation

Amid allegations of corruption and illegal campaign contributions, the leading Republican contender for New Jersey's Senate seat has dropped out of the primary race.

James Treffinger – whose campaign manager is Charlie Smith '86 – withdrew four days after federal agents seized financial records from his office. Treffinger, the Essex County executive, had lost the support of state and national GOP officials whose endorsement had led most to consider him the race's front-runner.

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The controversy swirling around Treffinger is particularly ironic because Republicans in the Senate race have repeatedly criticized incumbent Sen. Robert Toricelli, a Democrat, for allegedly accepting illegal campaign contributions.

Treffinger's withdrawal brings the Republican primary field from its original six candidates down to three. The primary is June 4.

Robert Ray '82, who resigned his position as independent counsel to run for the Senate seat, had already dropped out earlier this month along with state assemblyman Guy Gregg.

Ray may be best known for the deal he negotiated as independent counsel with former President Bill Clinton. The deal allowed Clinton to escape indictment in the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Ray and Gregg both said they wanted to avoid hurting the party with a contentious primary.

"My biggest responsibility is to make sure I do the right thing," Ray said.

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The federal investigation into Treffinger appears to focus on contractors who have worked for Essex County as well as contributions to his campaign.

FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents seized dozens of documents Thursday, including those related to United Gunite Corp., whose officials have admitted paying bribes to municipal officials in exchange for contracts, and those of a catering firm that provides meals to Essex County jail inmates.

"There comes a time when the interest of the party as a whole and in particular, those who have supported me, must outweigh my own personal desires" Treffinger said in a statement."I steadfastly maintain that I have always lived my life in adherence to law and ethics. "But I find myself not permitted at this point in time to offer evidence publicly in response to speculative reports."

A spokesman for the Torricelli campaign said yesterday that the race for Senate remains unchanged.

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"The Republican race today is very much what it was yesterday," Torricelli spokesman Ken Snyder said. "You still have a bunch of little-known Republican candidates who, unlike Senator Torricelli, have no palpable record fighting for the people of New Jersey."

N.J. Republican Party Chairman Joe Kyrillos said any of the GOP candidates would make a better senator than Torricelli, whose first term was shadowed by a Justice Department investigation into illegal contributions to his 1996 campaign.

The three-year probe ended with no criminal charges, but the material has been turned over to Senate ethics officials.

Treffinger's campaign acknowledged in February that it improperly used $130,000 raised for the race because of a bookkeeping error.

Treffinger took office as county executive in 1995 after his Democratic predecessor was convicted on federal corruption charges. His term expires at the end of the year.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)