Anticipating a feisty debate between the major party nominees for Lieutenant Governor, the New Jersey Democratic State Committe’s Vice-Chair, Lizette Delgado-Polanco, believes that, given her scandal-plagued tenure, voters should question Kim Guadagno’s readiness to assume the governor’s office — something she does regularly when Chris Christie campaigns for higher office outside the state.
Scandal Plagued Tenure Raises Unanswered Questions
(Union, NJ) — Anticipating a feisty debate between the major party nominees for Lieutenant Governor, the New Jersey Democratic State Committe’s Vice-Chair, Lizette Delgado-Polanco, believes that, given her scandal-plagued tenure, voters should question Kim Guadagno’s readiness to assume the governor’s office — something she does regularly when Chris Christie campaigns for higher office outside the state.
During the first gubernatorial debate, Chris Christie said, “As far as my lieutenant governor, there’s nobody questioning whether she’s qualified.” Typical of the Governor’s spin, that statement is not entirely true.
Serious allegations have been made about Guadagno’s involvement in a “hush-hush pension fraud probe that began more than two years ago.” As reported by New Jersey Watchdog, an investigative outfit financed by conservative billionaires, the Christie administration is arguing in court that the outcome, findings and all other records of the investigation should remain state secrets… an obvious conflict-of-interest, as Guadagno is a former Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ) deputy director and now sits in the governor’s cabinet alongside the state attorney general, who is in charge of the DCJ.” The scandal becomes of even more importance in the light of today’s startling New York Times story, “The Quashing of a Case Against a Christie Ally.”
“Clearly, the Christie administration needs to explain this growing scandal,” said Lizette Delgado-Polanco, the Vice-Chair of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee. “Hopefully, answers will begin to surface at tonight’s debate. Milly Silva is a strong and experienced advocate for working people. I am confident that tonight she’ll highlight the serious policy differences between the all-woman Democratic ticket and those of the Christie administration, but big questions remain: how integral has Kim Guadagno been to Chris Christie’s abuse of power? Does she have the judgement to lead our state?”
Silva offers a stark contrast to Guadagno. Democrat Milly Silva of Essex County — a Latina and Columbia University graduate who was raised with her three siblings in a Bronx public housing project — is a long-time labor organizer who now is executive vice president for the New Jersey region of a local of the Service Employees International Union. 1199SEIU represents 7,000 nursing home workers in 74 facilities, and is billed as New Jersey’s largest long-term care union. Silva has negotiated multi-million dollar contracts, and is focused on pursuing health insurance benefits, a living wage, and positive work environments for health care employees. From local mayors to negligent landlords, Milly has spent her entire career fearlessly standing up to those who attempt to impede the progress of working people.