The acting president of the National Organization for Women of New Jersey, Jill LaZare, has a message for prospective candidates for Congress in New Jersey’s 7th district: “The men should stay out of this race.”
“It is a time when we have over 200,000 more women than men in our state that our representatives reflect the disparity in our numbers,” said LaZare, who is personally supporting Sue Altman for the Democratic nomination to take on Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield). “We have twelve congressional representatives for New Jersey, and only two are women.”
Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) and Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) are the only women in the New Jersey delegation. The state has sent seven women to Congress since 1924, when Mary T. Norton (D-Jersey City), a loyalist to Jersey City Mayor and Hudson Democratic boss Frank Hague, was elected in 1924.
Six of the seven New Jersey congresswomen — Florence Dwyer (R-Elizabeth), Millicent Fenwick (R-Bernardsville), Helen Meyner (D-Phillipsburg), Marge Roukema (R-Ridgewood), Watson Coleman, and Sherrill – represented towns currently in the 7th.
“It is time to not only have equal representation, but a majority to reflect the disparity,” said LaZare. “CD-7 needs a woman.”
However, LaZare says she is individually endorsing Altman, “not because she is a woman, but because she is the most qualified candidate to represent CD-7.”
“Her work as the state director of Working Families and her intelligence, competitive spirit, and having been raised in the district uniquely qualifies her to represent the values of the district.”
Altman is the only announced candidate in the race against Kean so far. Roselle Park Mayor Joseph Signorello, former State Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Elizabeth), and former U.S. Department of State official Jason Blazakis are also mulling challenges to Kean.
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