A lucrative no-bid contract awarded to John Ashcroft by a former colleague in the U.S. Justice Department has become opposition fodder in the New Jersey governor’s race.

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat feeling the heat in the Garden State, highlights the arrangement in an ad attacking his opponent, Republican Christopher J. Christie , the state’s former U.S. Attorney.

While U.S. Attorney, Christie gave a deal worth up to $52 million to The Ashcroft Group, the consulting firm run by the former Missouri governor and senator who later served as U.S. Attorney General.

Ashcroft’s firm was given what’s called a monitoring contract, designed to keep tabs on companies that have out-of-court settlements with the Justice Department. The fees come from the company being monitored; in Ashcroft’s case, that was Indiana-based medical supply firm Zimmer Holdings.

Zimmer had drawn the scrutiny of Christie’s office for giving consultant fees to doctors that used their surgical products - a potential violation of anti-kickback laws.