One of America’s most deeply entrenched political machines is finally coming apart.

New Jersey political insiders struggled to come up with big enough words Monday morning morning to describe what they were hearing: The state attorney general was about to indict South Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross, one of the most formidable and fearsome operators in state history, on corruption charges.

“Earthquake,” one told POLITICO. “Atomic bomb,” said another.

Norcross ruled much of New Jersey for decades and, at his peak, wielded power rivaling governors — shaping elections, legislation and the political careers of Democrats across the state.

His indictment is just the latest in a series of political shockwaves that have struck New Jersey over the past year. Sen. Bob Menendez, another powerful political boss held in awe by lower-level political players, is in the middle of a corruption trial. And that comes just months after a federal judge struck down the “county line” — a tool long used by New Jersey’s political machines to suppress intra-party challengers — for the 2024 Democratic primary.

New Jersey’s notoriously boss-driven political system has never been imperiled like this before, at least not in living memory. And now, a crop of younger New Jersey Democrats are ready to dance on its grave.