By Chief Political Correspondent Michael Aron
NJ Today
State Sen. Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex) sent out a video this morning announcing she would file her candidate papers today. She takes Gov. Chris Christie’s greatest strength at the moment and pivots from it.
“We will rebuild our storm-ravaged communities, but that’s not the only rebuilding that needs to be done. There’s another New Jersey that’s been slowly eroded by wrong priorities, poor policy choices and inexcusable neglect,” Buono said.
WATCH VIDEO:
The 59-year-old Metuchen resident has been in the Legislature since 1994 and is considered liberal. She hangs the state’s high unemployment rate on Christie.
“Instead of bipartisan leadership, Gov. Christie has offered trickle-down economics, policies that have landed New Jersey 47th out of 50 states for economic growth,” Buono said.
The governor today was the keynote speaker at the New Jersey Business & Industry Association’s annual conference. We caught him on his way in.
When asked if he would welcome Buono in the race, Christie said, “I have no time for politics. I have an important job to do. I’ll engage in politics when I need to but I don’t need to engage now.”
Senate President Steve Sweeney, who is contemplating a run himself, had a lukewarm reaction. “She’s given every indication for the last two years she wold run for governor, so, no surprise,” he said.
Democratic Strategist Julie Roginsky gave her reaction to Buono’s announcement. “Smart to do it, put her marker down as everybody else is deciding whether they’re going to do this. Cory Booker’s deciding, seems like the Hamlet of Newark, has been deciding for I don’t know how long, whether he’s going to run or not. John Wisniewski obviously saying he’s not gonna run. She’s the only one out there,” she said.
Democratic Strategist Bill Pascrell III said, “I give her credit for announcing when she did. … Because most people are waiting to see what some other candidates are doing before they make that decision. It’s a daunting task. The governor’s very popular right now. So we’ll see who has the guts to step up and take on this formidable challenge.”
Republican Strategist Bill Palatucci said, “I’m really not going to comment on the Democratic field or the goings on in the Democratic Party. They’ve got a primary. They’ve gotta go through that and figure out how they’re going to pick their nominee so I’ll let them get about doing that.”
Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-19) took himself out of the running this week. Some Democrats are pushing Congressman Bill Pascrell (D-8) to run.
“I never say never, but I have other thoughts on my mind right now,” Pascrell told NJ Today.
The big unanswered question is Newark Mayor Cory Booker. “I haven’t come to a conclusion yet,” Booker said.
“I got a lot of good options, that’s the main thing and I’ll weigh them out when the time comes,” Sweeney said.
So everyone who’s been saying Booker could clear the field in a Democratic primary failed to account for Buono, who is now the one declared candidate in the field.