Reading Doc’s blog I am happy to read that he has given my running mates and I credit for running a professional, clean campaign, in which my running mates and I discussed the issues impacting the State of New Jersey. In fact, I do not recall with all the mailings that we sent out, us ever mentioning our opponents by name. I campaigned very hard in every town in my district (over a year of campaigning!). I want to congratulate my two opponents for running a clean campaign.
In fact, the Board of Education in Clark invited me back five times to participate in different programs dealing with education in Clark. So, I am very proud of the results we received on Election Day. Winning by over four thousand votes showed me that the hard work paid off.
There is one area that I would like to bring to some of the bloggers here in the City of Plainfield in reference to why in the City of Plainfield that my running mates received more votes than I did. The first is that I knew there would be a backlash with me supporting a new law that now prevents a person with a record from running for the Board of Education. I accepted the fact that I got blamed for it, when there were other legislators, especially in Atlantic and Burlington counties, that had similar concerns. I was one of the sponsors of the bill. Both houses, the Senate and the Assembly, voted almost unanimously in support of the bill, with the Governor signing the bill into law. So I knew, especially when some members of the Plainfield Board of Ed, came out openly against what I did, I knew it would cause a backlash.
Secondly, I have not at this particular time, committed to any candidates for future elections, because I have publicly made it clear that I would like to spend next year working to get President Obama re-elected. So when people feel that you are not committed to them, they are not going to raise money, or knock on doors, because they feel a lack of commitment; and I accept that.
The last issue is one that has been going on for quite some time here in the City of Plainfield in which this year I had more support than I had in the past when it came down to the support my colleagues received and what I received, especially in the 2nd Ward. As Chairman of the Party in the City of Plainfield, it is my job to get Democrats elected in November. When that happens, some do a good job, and some do a bad job. Whether they do good or bad, I get blamed for their actions.
I had numerous people call me up, some being Democrats outside of Plainfield, who told me they were getting phone calls and emails saying, “Vote for everyone in Column A except for Jerry Green.” Although there were some people reminding white voters in the district that I was a black male who is responsible for the condition of Plainfield; as well as saying that my opponent who ran opposite of me, and I do not know if this was done by design even though I believe it was, who was a white female lawyer, would bring more credibility to the district than I have done. I feel these sorts of phone calls cross the line. That is why I am not blaming my opponents because this is something that has been going on for a long time.
In the City, with all of these things that I have mentioned, and everyone else in Column A receiving roughly 200 more votes than I did, I consider that a victory. I am hoping that moving forward; they would realize that this handful of people will not cause me to get into the gutter because everyone who worked for me, including myself, supported all the Democrats in Column A. Again, in the entire District, we all received roughly the same amounts of votes. For me to feed into that type of nonsense would not have worked to my advantage.
So I am proud of those who ignored these phone calls and emails, as well as those who voted for me, still believing in me after serving 20 years in the Assembly, and am looking forward to the next two years in representing the 22nd District.
I am going to continue to be Chairman of Housing and Local Government. I look forward taking on housing issues, as well as working with towns to improve the quality of life for the people here in the State of New Jersey. I will also be Speaker Pro Tempore, which gives me the opportunity to be part of leadership.
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