Assemblyman Raj Mukherji’s involvement in a cannabis dispensary plan in Hoboken is leading to allegations of unfair political influence by critics of the plan who are intent on keeping the dispensary from opening.
Mukherji, a Hudson County Democrat who represents Hoboken in the state Assembly, helped connect the people who want to run the dispensary with the owners of the building where it’s slated to open, just weeks before the dispensary plan went before a local review board. The building’s owners are Jaclyn Fulop — wife of Steve Fulop, mayor of neighboring Jersey City — and Drew Nussbaum, who chairs a super PAC linked to Mayor Fulop.
Mukherji’s involvement in the dispensary plan comes as he is seeking to be elevated to the state Senate next year — Steve Fulop has endorsed him — and as the Jersey City mayor is eyeing a gubernatorial run in 2025.
In a statement to the New Jersey Monitor, Mukherji said he has no stake in the Hoboken dispensary plan and characterized his involvement — revealed in an email provided as evidence in a lawsuit filed by Hoboken residents opposed to the plan — as merely helping two friends get in touch.
“It’s certainly no secret I’ve invested in regulated cannabis for years, besides other health care businesses, and my late father was the first patient member of any of the NJ dispensaries’ medical advisory boards. But I don’t have, and have never had, any financial interest in a Hoboken dispensary, and I don’t have a client or real estate or loans or other indirect interest in this store (even though it would be perfectly legal),” he said.