After a slew of newly elected and re-elected members of the New Jersey legislature were sworn in on Tuesday at the State House in Trenton, new 31st District state Senator Sandra Bolden Cunningham of Jersey City summed up the event.
“It’s like a graduation,” said Cunningham last week, on the heels of having won a bitterly fought campaign for the spot.
The Jan. 10 swearing-in marked the first day of the state’s 213th legislative session.
Each of New Jersey’s 40 legislative districts has one state senator and two assembly members.
Last year, two opposing Democrats camps of Hudson County politicians fought bitterly for those seats. The battle-scarred winners triumphantly took their oaths last week.
North Bergen Mayor and longtime 32nd District state Senator Nicholas Sacco and Union City Mayor and first-time 33rd District State Senator Brian Stack were among the 40 state senators sworn in for a four-year term.
Down the road from the State House at the War Memorial building, the 80 state Assembly members were sworn in for a two-year term.
They included the Hudson County Assembly contingent of Bayonne City Councilman Anthony Chiappone and former Jersey City City Councilman L. Harvey Smith in the 31st District, longtime Assemblywoman Joan Quigley and Secaucus official Vincent Prieto in the 32nd District, and Hoboken City Councilman Ruben Ramos and Union City City Commissioner Caridad Rodriguez.
New Jersey’s 31st District covers all of Bayonne and southern and central parts of Jersey City. The 32nd District covers the western and northwest section of Jersey City as well as the towns of North Bergen, Secaucus, Kearny, Harrison, East Newark, and Fairview in Bergen County. The 33rd District encompasses the eastern and northeastern sections of Jersey City as well as Guttenberg, Hoboken, Union City, Weehawken and West New York.
After the swearing-in ceremonies, both the Senate and the Assembly gathered for the State of the State address given by Gov. Jon Corzine.
Welcome to the State House
For those being sworn into their legislative posts, either for the first time or for the umpteenth time, the occasion had different meanings.
Stack, who had been previously been a state assemblyman, was sworn in by Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex).
It was just another step in the 41-year old Stack’s long career of public service that started at the age of 14.
Stack was accompanied by his mom, Margaret, his girlfriend Mercedes, and some personal friends.
“It feels good to represent the people of the 33rd District on the issues of property tax and education,” Stack said.
“Looking back, I basically started as a helper in civic associations. I ran for the Board of Education at the age of 19. It’s just a great feeling to be here.”
Stack continued, “I now have the benefit of being a state senator and mayor, and as a state senator I can not only help Union City but other towns in the 33rd District.”
Quigley will now be starting her eighth term, which will be her 15th and 16th years in office.
“When I first came down here, I had a lot of things to do and I thought I would get it done in a few years,” Quigley said. “Here it is, 15 years, and I haven’t got nearly half of it done.”
Quigley added, “You come down [to Trenton] idealistic and not everyone agrees with you. It takes a number of years to build a consensus.”
Quigley said she will look to tackle issues such as health care and hospitals in New Jersey, and the state’s controversial school funding formula, passed last week by the state Senate and Assembly.
Cunningham said the day was special yet bittersweet as it was 10th anniversary of her marriage to her late husband, Jersey City Mayor and state Senator Glenn Cunningham. Cunningham died of a heart attack suddenly in May of 2004.
“I wish he was here to see this,” she said, “but I know he’ll be watching this from above and he would be so proud.”
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com