Matthew Feldman Archives - Page 2 of 4 - New Jersey Globe

Freedom Rider Byron Baer spent 34 years in the NJ legislature — and 45 days in a Mississippi prison

July 29, 2021 12:01 amJuly 28, 2021 6:39 pm

Today is the 60th anniversary of the arrest of Freedom Rider Byron Baer, a longtime New Jersey legislator who was charged with attempting to desegregate a blacks-only waiting room at the Greyhound bus terminal in Jackson, Mississippi. He spent 45...

Gordon Johnson has votes to win Bergen Democratic line for Senate

February 10, 2021 4:53 pmFebruary 11, 2021 10:34 am

Gordon Johnson has secured enough committed votes to win the Democratic organization line for State Senate in Bergen County, according to a New Jersey Globe tally of party leaders in the 37th legislative district. While the tally shows that Valerie...

Trailblazer: Marion West Higgins

February 9, 2021 12:14 amFebruary 7, 2021 9:10 pm

Marion West Higgins (1915-1991) was the first woman to serve as Speaker of the New Jersey State Assembly. The Bergen County Republican was also the first woman to serve as Assembly Majority Leader, and the first woman to serve as...

Since 1973, little turnover in solidly Democratic 37th district

January 24, 2021 9:42 pmJanuary 25, 2021 9:17 am

The 37th legislative district has had little turnover since New Jersey shifted to a 40-district map in 1973 and is one of seven districts in the state that has never sent a Republican to Trenton. In more than 47 years,...

New Jersey was against Dr. King state holiday before it was for it

January 18, 2021 12:21 amJanuary 17, 2021 11:29 pm

The road to establishing a legal holiday honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in New Jersey was a slow one. During the final days of the 1974-75 legislative session, the Democratic-controlled State Senate rejected the idea of a...

Freedom Rider Byron Baer spent 34 years in the NJ legislature — and 45 days in a Mississippi prison

July 29, 2020 12:10 amJuly 29, 2020 12:59 pm

Today is the 59th anniversary of the arrest of Freedom Rider Byron Baer, a longtime New Jersey legislator who was charged with attempting to desegregate a blacks-only waiting room at the Greyhound bus terminal in Jackson, Mississippi. He spent 45...

Jeremiah F. O’Connor, former state senator, dies at 86

May 14, 2020 2:36 pmMay 14, 2020 6:17 pm

Jeremiah F. O’Connor, an affable Democrat who won a State Senate seat at age 31 and sponsored a bill to give 18-year-olds the right to vote, died on May 13. He was 86. O’Connor, who served two terms on the...