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Pascrell Won't Run For Gov, Backs Buono
Monday, January 28, 2013 • 11:55am
PATERSON, NJ – Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. announced on Monday that he won’t be running for governor and instead threw his support behind state Senator Barbara Buono from Middlesex County.
Several prominent state Democrats in the past couple months had said Pascrell would be a strong candidate to run against Republican incumbent Chris Christie. Pascrell himself had called the suggestion that he run “intriguing.”
“Congressman Pascrell and I received a lot of calls urging the Congressman to run for governor. We appreciate all the support and encouragement, but Congressman Pascrell and I agree that now is the time to unify behind Senator Buono,” said Passaic County Democratic Chairman John Currie in a press release.
In addition to Pascrell and Currie, Buono on Monday also got endorsements from the Bergen County Democratic Chairman Lou Stellato and Hudson Chairman Mark Smith.
So far, Buono is the only Democrat to announce plans to run for governor.
"I'm proud to join my three county Democratic chairmen in supporting Barbara Buono for the Democratic nomination for governor as we continue our fight for New Jersey's middle class taxpayers," Pascrell said in a press release.
“I’ve known Senator Buono for over 20 years, and I am proud to support her candidacy. I recently met with Democratic municipal leaders and elected officials from throughout Passaic County and told them that the campaign starts today,” said Currie.
“New Jersey needs help, and the governor’s seemingly nonexistent plan for job creation has led to over 13% unemployment in Passaic County and unemployment throughout New Jersey almost two percentage points higher than the national average,” added Currie. “Democrats need to rally behind Senator Buono to begin the process of taking back our government for the middle class and the working poor.”
