Robert “Bob” Menendez
The state of New Jersey has two senators in the United States Senate and 12 representatives in the United States House of Representatives. The two senators are Robert “Bob” Menendez and Cory Booker, who are both democrats. The town of Paterson, where I come from, is part of New Jersey’s 9th congressional district represented by Bill Pascrell Jr, also a democrat.
Robert “Bob” Menendez
Robert “Bob” Menendez was born on January 1, 1954, in New York, U.S., to Cuban immigrants and grew up in Union City, New Jersey. He attended Union Hill High School, where he served as president of his high school class. The first in his family to attend college and went on to graduate from what is now known as Saint Peter’s University with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1976 (“Biography,” n.d.). Also, Menendez attended Rutgers Law School, where he earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1979 and was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 1980, after which he entered private legal practice (“Bob Menendez,” 2004).
Menendez has been married twice. The first time he married Jane Jacobson in 1976 with whom they bore two children: a daughter Alicia and son Robert. The couple divorced in 2005. In 2013 Menendez married his second wife, Alicia Mucci (“Biography,” n.d.).
Menendez began his political career in 1974 when he won a seat on the Union City Board of Education and served until 1978. He ran for mayor of Union City twice, in 1982 and 1986, but was only successful the second time. Menendez served as mayor of Union City between 1986 and 1982 (McNamee, 2020). During his time as mayor, he also served in the New Jersey General Assembly between 1987 and 1991. Following redistricting in 1992 that saw the creation of the 13th district Menendez ran and was elected in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1993, and he won reelection every two years until he was appointed by the then New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine to the U.S senate in January 2006 (McNamee, 2020). Following the death of New Jersey State Senator Christopher Jackman, Menendez won the special election to become the New Jersey Senator. Currently, he serves as a senior senator from New Jersey and is next for reelection in 2024. In the last election, Menendez won with 64% of the votes (“Bob Menendez,” 2004).
The two policy issues areas that Menendez is interested in are immigration and economic policies. His ideology is to protect and support the most vulnerable and lending a voice to the voiceless. Being a son of immigrants, Menendez was at the forefront in fighting for a comprehensive immigration reform legislation passed by the Senate in 2013 (Robert “Bob” Menendez, Senator for New Jersey, n.d.). He has been instrumental in the economic growth of New Jersey. For instance, he championed legislation that provides relief to homeowners hit with unreasonably high flood insurance premiums. These issues correlate with his ideology of making the nation and the state of New Jersey better.
Junior Senator Cory Booker
Cory Anthony Booker was born on April 27, 1967, Washington D.C., to wealthy civil rights activists. His family later relocated to Harrington Park, New Jersey, where he grew up. Booker attended Northern Valley High School at Old Tappan, where he was involved in Varsity football (“Cory Booker,” 2005). He has a Bachelor of Arts in political science and a Master of Arts in sociology from Stanford University. Besides playing football, Booker served as a senior class president and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to study at the University of Oxford. At Oxford Booker earned an honors degree in United States history. Also, Booker received his Juris Doctor in 1997 from Yale Law School and operated free legal clinics for low-income residents of New Haven, Connecticut. Concurrently, he was still serving in the National Black Law Students Association as well as serving as a Big Brother in the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization (About Cory, n.d.). Before joining politics, Booker worked for the Urban Justice Center in New York City as a staff attorney and a Newark Youth Project.
Booker began his political career in 1998 when he ran and won a seat on the Municipal Council of Newark, where he served until 2002. In the City Council, Booker aggressively fought against the City’s drug and violence problems (McNamee, 2020). Also, he became popular for his advocacy of education reforms and increased access to healthcare. In 2002, Booker ran for mayor of Newark unsuccessfully. However, in 2006 he ran successfully, and as mayor, he advocated for gun control and violence abatement among other initiatives. He served as mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013. Following the death of Senator Frank Lautenberg in 2013, Booker won the subsequent special election to become a junior senator of New Jersey as a democrat (McNamee, 2020. During the 2013 special election, Booker won with 54.9% votes to become the second African-American to be elected to the Senate after Barack Obama in 2004. In the 2014 elections, Booker won by 55.8% to 42.4% (“Cory Booker,” 2005). Booker is not officially married but is rumored to be dating actress and activist Rosario Dawson.
The two policy issues areas that Booker is interested in include criminal justice system reforms and economic policies. Senator Booker was instrumental in enacting the First Step Act to fix the broken criminal justice system and ending mass incarceration (Cory Booker, Senator for New Jersey, n.d.). Also, he advocates for economic policies that facilitate job creation, wage increments, and expansion of business opportunities. Since he began his political career, Booker has dedicated his efforts to fighting violence, enhancing economic growth, and making life affordable for the citizens of New Jersey.
Bill Pascrell Jr
Bill Pascrell Jr was born on January 25, 1937, in Paterson, New Jersey, to Roffie J. and William James Pascrell (“Bill Pascrell,” 2004). He went to St. George’s Elementary School, followed by St. John the Baptist High School, where he graduated in 1955 and at one time served as student council president. Pascrell has a Bachelor’s in Journalism and Masters in Philosophy from Fordham University in New York City (“Bill Pascrell,” 2004). He served as a high school teacher in Paramus, New Jersey, and later as a professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University (“Biography | U.S. representative bill Pascrell,” n.d.). Pascrell has served as president of Paterson Board of Education and on the Board of trustees of Passaic County Community College.
Pascrell married Elsie Marie Pascrell in 1962 with whom they have three children named William III, Glen, and David (“Biography | U.S. representative bill Pascrell,” n.d.). Pascrell began his political career in 1987 when he was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly, where he eventually became the Minority Leader Pro Tempore. He served in the State Assembly for six terms. He served as Mayor of Paterson between 1990 and 1996, during which he also served as an assemblyman. Pascrell joined the U.S. House of Representatives in 1997, winning with 51% of the votes and represented the 8th congressional district. After the redistricting of 2012, Pascrell won the election with 73.6% votes to represent the newly redrawn New Jersey’s 9th district (“Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr,” n.d.). He has served since January 3, 2013, and is up for reelection in 2020.
The two policy issues areas that Pascrell is interested in include economic and environmental protection issues. Pascrell has resiliently been championing policies that help enable job creation, tax fairness, and trade agreements that benefit the United States’ workers. For example, Pascrell is the lead sponsor of legislation to return the dull state and local tax deduction and a Jobs Homes Act that would facilitate domestic job creation (“Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr,” n.d.). Also, Pascrell has been advocating for the development of offshore wind energy and other policies that would stop climate change. For instance, Pascrell inspired the designation of Paterson’s Great Falls as part of the National Park System. He championed the enactment of the Great Falls Historic District Study Act (“Biography | U.S. representative bill Pascrell,” n.d.). The two areas reflect Pascrell’s ideology of forging a better society where there are job opportunities, affordable health care, and a healthy environment.
The representative that most interests me is junior senator Cory Booker because of his dedication to serving his people. He revolutionized the state of New Jersey by leading economic growth that has not been witnessed since the 1960s. Economic growth can be attributed to his efforts in reducing violence and making city services more efficient. Also, Booker has played a significant role in increasing educational opportunities and enabling affordable housing. Booker has, on several occasions, come to the rescue of his people. For instance, in 2012, he saved a woman from a house fire and was once helped a shovel an older person’s driveway. His desire to serve and drive change led him to run for president. Although he eventually dropped out of the race, I think he is not done yet.
References
About Cory. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.booker.senate.gov/about-cory
Bill Pascrell. (2004, September 7). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Pascrell
Biography | U.S. representative Bill Pascrell. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://pascrell.house.gov/about/
Biography. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.menendez.senate.gov/about/biography
Bob Menendez. (2004, May 31). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Menendez#Elections
Cory Booker, Senator for New Jersey. (n.d.). Retrieved from GovTrack website: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/cory_booker/412598
Cory Booker. (2005, June 28). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cory_Booker
McNamee, G. L. (2020). Bob Menendez. In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bob-Menendez
Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/bill_pascrell/400309
Robert “Bob” Menendez, Senator for New Jersey (GovTrack). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/robert_menendez/400272