Here’s why we are excited to endorse Katie Brennan for LD32 Assembly:

Candidate order: The bill to reform New Jersey’s primary ballots (A5116) moves New Jersey closer to fair primaries by eliminating the county line ballot and instituting an office block ballot design. However, candidate order for the primary ballot will still be determined by the County Clerk or Municipal Clerk drawing names out of a bin. This provides an advantage for the candidate drawn in first position and has resulted in some clerks drawing the party endorsed candidates for first position a statistically improbable number of times. I support the following reform that would ensure a more fair candidate order on the ballot:
Rotating the order of candidates for each office by voting precinct, so each candidate appears on the ballot first, second, and so forth, approximately the same number of times (see the recently introduced bill A5181).

Comment: I believe it’s critical that we ensure fair elections. Rotating the order of candidates by voting precincts is fair and requires only minor additional work from the County Clerk’s office and to union printers. Many other states employ this best practice.

Slogans: I support prohibiting the use of slogans to express party endorsements on primary election ballots. New Jersey is the only state that allows primary candidates to use slogans to indicate endorsements.

Comment: Electioneering should be left to the campaign trail. To truly create a fair ballot we need to eliminate slogans. It is one of many reasons why I chose to run a campaign without any party machine boss.

Voter access: I support adopting parts of H.R.1 in New Jersey in order to increase voter participation, ensure access to the ballot box, and strengthen elections, including specifically same day registration, early voting and a paper trail for machine voting that enables verification.

Comment: In the time of Donald Trump, voters want more democracy not less of it. We need same day registration, making it easier for people to vote by mail and continue to expand early voting.

Ethics reform: I support ethics reforms that would require broader disclosure of financial information and the release of income taxes by candidates for county-level and state-level public office, as a means of transparency.

Comment: Not only do I support broader financial disclosure reform, I believe that we need to strengthen ELECs power to hold candidates who do not file the current Public Financial Disclosure accountable.

Campaign funding: I support the public funding of campaigns for all state-level elected offices (i.e., the state legislature and gubernatorial elections).

Comment: I support public funding of campaigns and I believe that NJ should look towards NY on ways to implement it. Publicly funded campaigns creates a more even playing field for all potential candidates.

Redistricting: I support placing a nonpartisan commission in charge of the legislative redistricting process.

Comment: Voters should pick their representative, not the other way around. Our current redistricting process is opaque and disadvantages communities of color and urban centers.

Public Advocate: I support passing legislation to reinstate the statewide Office of the Public Advocate that was eliminated in 2010.

Comment: We need to build a firewall in New Jersey to protect our citizens against the harm of the Trump Administration. The Office of Public Advocate is critical in this, they help guide residents towards resources and can build better trust with our constituents that government can and should work for them. When I worked on a Gubernatorial transition, I called for the reinstatement of the Public Advocate.

Posting of state bills: I support requiring that bills be posted in written form at least 72 hours prior to committee discussion or vote, and that budget bills be posted at least 5 business days in advance of discussion or vote, to improve transparency in the legislative process.

Comment: The current system of how we pass the budget is ridiculous; we need standard periods of review. The current system is undemocratic, it limits the time legislators have to review the bill, limits the review period for policy experts and creates budgets that just don’t work for the average New Jersey family.

State legislative meetings: I support making all committee meetings accessible to the public for attendance and testimony by online means (e.g., via zoom) and streaming of voting sessions to increase availability and transparency of government.

Comment: Back in March, I and many residents across New Jersey waited over 4 hours to speak at a hearing on the ballot design – much of it a forced delay to wait out angry voters. We need to create online testimony options and require legislative meetings to post an agenda 24 hours before the event. More citizen participation, not less.

Full time legislature: I support making the state legislature full-time and prohibiting the simultaneous holding of other paid positions, so as to eliminate conflicts of interest and sources of influence and pressure on state legislators.

Comment: States half our population have full time legislators. It’s necessary that NJ takes the same steps to ensure that we are actively fighting for our voters and are accessible to our communities. Full time legislatures also help prevent corruption and conflicts of interest. If elected, I will fight to bring legislation to change our legislation to full-time.

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More information about Katie Brennan:

Email: katie@katiebrennanfornj.com
Phone: ‪201-691-7414
Campaign website: www.katiebrennanfornj.com
Social media: X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
Party affiliation: Democratic party

Date of Birth: 6/24/1987
Current Occupation: Partner at Baro Strategies (Housing and Domestic Violence Policy expert)
Education: BA in English, History and Psychology at Xavier University and a MCRP in Urban Planning at Rutgers University
Public/party service: Management Associate at NJ Housing Mortgage Finance Authority; Associate at Monarch Housing Associates; Deputy Housing Policy Director in the Murphy Administration and Transition Team; Program Director at Hudson County Division of Housing & Community Development; NJ Chapter Director at New Leadership Council;
Chief Of Staff New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency; Senior Advisor
NYC Office of the Mayor, Deputy Mayor of Housing and Economic Development; President & Executive Director at the New York State Office of Resilient Homes and Communities; Chief Operating Officer at Affordable Housing Alliance; and Partner at Baro Strategies. On the board of the Waterfront Project and Sustainable JC. Former board member of Van Vorst Park Association and JC Bikes