By David Cruz
NJ Today
New Jersey does not lack for women of historic political significance. The state’s first female governor — Christie Todd Whitman — served two terms in the 1990s and went on to serve in the Bush administration. The late Millicent Fenwick served four terms in the House of Representatives and became a national figure, as did Marge Roukema. But New Jersey hasn’t had a woman in the House of Representatives since 2003. Debbie Walsh, who directs the Center for Women & Politics at Rutgers, says it’s been a long hard road for women in New Jersey.
“It’s been a struggle for women to get elected to office over the years. For many, many years, New Jersey ranked in the bottom 10 in the nation for the percentage of women serving in the state legislature,” Walsh said. “It’s been a bipartisan problem. Women on the Democratic side and the Republican side have really faced resistance at the county level from county leaders.”
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A good example of that is in Hoboken, where, in 2009, Dawn Zimmer became the first woman ever elected mayor. In fact, Zimmer is the first woman ever elected mayor in all of Hudson County, a fact which she didn’t even know until a reporter told her.
“Actually, I laughed and I said you’re kidding; that can’t be true. He said, ‘No I’ve done my research and it’s true,’ but I didn’t know that,” Zimmer said. “It is surprising to me and I do think it would be great if we had more female mayors in Hudson County and more women in government.”
Zimmer is in some exclusive company. In a state where 51 percent of residents are female, just under 14 percent of cities have female mayors. For county freeholders, the numbers are slightly better at just over 22 percent. But of the state’s 21 county executives, just one is a woman.
In the state legislature, women make up just 27 percent of the Senate and 30 percent of the Assembly.
Sen. Jennifer Beck is part of the state’s first ever all female legislative district team. She says an average of 29 percent is pretty good, although not exactly half.
“I think there are lots of reasons for that but I think one of the biggest is that women still continue to be the primary caregiver in the family,” Beck said. “And we have many women who are working and caring for the family. Not that the husband doesn’t play a role, but I think women still tend to be the one.”
New Jersey now ranks 11th among states in percentage of female legislators. In the Christie administration, several cabinet members are female and the lieutenant governor is Kim Guadagno. Still, in a campaign season where a tough-talking governor will square off against a woman not known to back down from a fight, it’s possible that gender could become a larger factor. Democrat Barbara Buono seemed to be giving a preview this week.
“Who would’ve thought in the 21st century that we would have a governor that is de-funding Planned Parenthood? That is the primary health care for so many women,” Buono said. “That issue alone, sets us apart.”
Given how unpopular politicians are across the country, you could ask why anyone — male or female — would want to get into this business. Still, the number of women seeking elective office in New Jersey continues to grow, albeit slowly, in a state, which in 2013, has yet to elect a woman to the U.S. Senate.