Women Democrats are seizing the day
County's upheaval presents opportunity
Star-Ledger, The ( Newark , NJ ), November 5, 2006
Author: DIANE C. WALSH; STAR-LEDGER STAFF
As the Middlesex County 's Democratic organization continues to deal with the fallout from power broker John Lynch's guilty plea on federal corruption charges, women in the local party see the change in leadership as an opportunity.
A group of more than a dozen of the highest-ranking elected women in the county recently gathered at party headquarters in Metuchen for the inaugural meeting of the Middlesex County Democratic Elected Women's Caucus.
"There is a sense of change, and they want more involvement," said Helen Gottlieb, the vice chairwoman of the county organization, who called the meeting. She said the caucus was created with the support of county Chairman Joseph Spicuzzo to encourage women to seek office by providing them mentors and support.
"There is a bit of a vacuum obviously with John (Lynch) not in the picture right now," said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at the Eagleton Institute at Rutgers University . "It opens up room for some new possibility."
Lynch, who helped build the county organization into one of the most powerful in the state, pleaded guilty to fraud in federal court. He admitted to secretly accepting thousands of dollars from a contractor while lobbying to help him develop state parkland. He faces at least 33 months in prison when he is sentenced in December.
Walsh said it's too soon to determine how the party will be shaped in Lynch's absence, but she said women should seize the opportunity.
"We have to watch and see the potential," Walsh said.
Despite a record number of women serving in the state Legislature, Walsh said there is only slight progress in electing women as mayors and freeholders.
Every year, the center publishes a report card on women in politics, and this year Middlesex ranked among the 18 counties labeled "unsatisfactory" because it had too few women serving as mayors.
Among the county's 21 towns, three women are mayors, Gloria Bradford, a Republican in Milltown; Meryl Frank, a Democrat in Highland Park ; and Nancy Martin, an independent in Helmetta.
Two women serve on the seven-member freeholder board, and Elaine Flynn is the county clerk...
Gottlieb said women hold about 20 percent of all the elected offices in the county, including mayoral, council and county government posts. She said she hopes to increase the representation to at least 30 percent.
Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein (D-Middlesex), who also participated in the first meeting of the caucus, said if more women are elected to office "it could make a difference about how politics is done in New Jersey."
We've got the goal in place, 30% is called 'a critical mass' in some of the reports I've read, now we have to get organized about how to make it happen.
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