New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate Barbara Buono received an important endorsement on Feb. 16, 2013, from the members of Garden State Equality who describe themselves as the state’s largest civil rights organization of any kind, not just the state’s largest organization advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. (LGBT)
This will be an important ally for Buono’s campaign as the man she hopes to de-throne, Incumbent Governor Chris Christie, who one year ago vetoed legislation on marriage equality and has only offered to put same sex marriage on the ballot for the voters to decide. The endorsement is no surprise, since Christie is a conservative and Buono is a liberal but 125,000 votes is a nice chunk of change to have in your pocket.
“Senator Buono has long been a champion of equality and her record shows that she understands what it is like to face bias, what it is like to overcome discrimination. She understands that separate is never equal and she will fight to make our state a better place for all New Jerseyans,” said Troy Stevenson, Executive Director of Garden State Equality. Stevenson added that “ we look forward to the day when Senator Buono becomes Governor Buono and leads New Jersey to a new chapter in our history, a chapter that puts equality ahead of politics.”
In accepting the endorsement, Buono said, “the fact of the matter is, this younger generation is going to be growing up in a nation where they have no recollection of not ever having an African-American as President. And that is because of the people who got out there and fought for a cause. But you know these changes, these steps toward progress, they didn’t happen over- night, did they? They didn’t happen because we willed them to occur. They happened because we worked toward them occurring. And they only occurred because people had the courage, the tenacity to stand up and fight for a cause. And that is what Garden State Equality is all about. You stood up and you’re fighting for a cause.”
Buono added “the wealthy donors in California do not vote and cast a ballot in November. And we are going to stand shoulder to shoulder with the millions of New Jerseyans who care about New Jersey being a better place. We can be better and we can advance our principles, the principles that our founders of our nation relied upon and that is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And that they should be there for everyone. And we will stand up and we will fight together in November and we will win. Thank you for this endorsement.”
Buono is referring to Christie who is in California on a fund raising circuit.
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