State Sen. Barbara Buono, who is the Democratic nominee for governor, is the first to admit she often finds herself in the position of political underdog.
By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
State Sen. Barbara Buono, who is the Democratic nominee for governor, is the first to admit she often finds herself in the position of political underdog — but that has not stopped her from pursuing what she thinks right.
And with the Nov. 5 election just two weeks away, Sen. Buono made the case Tuesday night for choosing her to be New Jersey’s next governor at Rider University’s Rebovitch Institute for New Jersey Politics.
”When people ask me why I am running for governor, my answer is, ‘How could I possibly not run.’ Look at the shape our state is in. Fighting for a better tomorrow is the reason I am running,” Sen. Buono said.
”People say it takes courage to run. I don’t know what they are talking about. It comes from my upbringing. I am the ‘little guy.’ I have always been the underdog,” said Sen. Buono, who has served in the General Assembly and the state Senate.
Sen. Buono told the audience her father immigrated to the United States from Italy as a young child. His parents, who did not speak English, moved to this country so their children would have a better life, she said. Her father dropped out of high school and worked as a butcher.
Sen. Buono said she often calls on the immigrant values that she learned from her family — to make sacrifices and to acquire an education. Her parents slept on a pull-out couch in the living room of their cramped apartment so their children could have a bedroom, she said.
She graduated from Nutley High School and was enrolled at Montclair State College when her father died. After his death, she was on her own, sleeping on couches in friends’ apartments until her sister took her in, Sen. Buono said.
After graduating from college in 1975, she held an assortment of jobs. She was admitted to Rutgers Law School in Camden and graduated in 1979. But in between college and law school, life was not easy. She relied on food stamps and government aid.
Sen. Buono said she was “this close” to not being able to attend law school for financial reasons, because she needed another loan. It was law school and a career as a lawyer that brought her out of poverty, she said.
Today, law school tuition is about $40,000 per year, Sen. Buono said. The increase in college tuition has outpaced many people’s salaries, she said, adding that “I have to run because I need to recreate the opportunities (for others) that I had.”
Then, Sen. Buono launched into a litany of criticisms against incumbent Republican Gov. Chris Christie. She criticized the governor for cutting income taxes on millionaires with the expectation that it would create jobs — but “it never worked and it never will.”
Sen. Buono also criticized the governor for vetoing an increase in the minimum wage. She said people have to work two or three jobs to make ends meet. She would like to increase the minimum wage and tie annual increases to the cost of living, and also restore the earned income tax credit for low-wage earners.
She told the audience that she favors universal pre-school education for children. State aid to school districts is another priority, she said, adding that the formula needs to be revised so that more money goes to non-urban school districts.
And although she is running against an incumbent governor, Sen. Buono said, she has always been underestimated. When she ran for the General Assembly, she was told she could not win — but she did. The other politicians said her victory was a “fluke,” and that she would not win re-election — but she did.
”I know this is the biggest mountain to climb, but I am dogged and I will never give up. I will never give up on you. That’s the reason I am running for governor. It’s time to take back our New Jersey. It is not Gov. Christie’s New Jersey,” Sen. Buono said.