A New Jersey assemblywoman being investigated by the state attorney general's office over claims she and her husband made to Habitat for Humanity to get the group to help rebuild their Sandy-damaged Jersey Shore vacation home says she will not be running for reelection.
Linda Stender released a statement Thursday afternoon making the announcement.
"Over the last several days, it has become apparent that personal issues involving my family and a nonprofit group have become an insurmountable distraction to me, to my running mates, and most importantly, to the constituents I have been proud to represent for more than a decade," the statement said. "As a result, I have decided not to seek reelection."
The announcement comes after her county's party chairman said he will no longer support Stender.
Union County Democratic Chairman Jerry Green told NBC 4 New York he will meet with the district chairman in the near future to identify another candidate to replace embattled assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Union) on the June primary ballot.
Days after he said he wanted to give Stender the benefit of the doubt, Green said Thursday he doesn't "think it would be good for the party" to keep her on the ballot, though he said he would not try to get her to resign her $49,000-a-year legislative post.
"We can't force her out of office and I have no intention of getting into a court fight with her," Green said.
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Green said he called Stender three times Thursday to tell her he was withdrawing his support but she never answered.
Stender did not indicate any plans to resign in her statement.
In trying to get Coastal Habitat for Humanity to help cover their rebuilding expenses, Stender's husband, Richard, allegedly told the organization he was the only person in his household and his income fell within their guidelines for determining where to give support.
Green said Stender told him she had no involvement whatsoever in the application, even though Coastal Habitat said she attended a meeting last August to go over their plans for a 2,200-square foot home to replace their 640-square foot bungalow.
NBC 4 New York reported the assemblywoman called the construction project her "dream house," a home three times the size of the one Sandy destroyed with five bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms and an elevator.
It would have been twice the size of a typical Habitat home -- a concept the nonprofit rejected last summer once it saw the architectural plans. In a statement earlier this week, Coastal Habitat for Humanity said it "refused to allow itself to be taken advantage of."
Amid the ongoing probe, Stender released a brief statement saying she and her husband have run into "outstanding issues" in their effort to rebuild in Manasquan, about five blocks from the beach.
