Primary Concerns for Senator James

Senator James may have cleared the primary election hurdle in Hillside, but he did so only with the strong organizational support of Hillside and Union County’s Democratic establishment.

Let this be a lesson to our distinguished Senator: never take your constituents for granted.

If James wishes to be our senator, he must commit himself to doing more about education, property taxes, insurance and malpractice reform.

He must work in Trenton to reform the irrational laws that control public schools. This will mean going against the teachers’ union lobby, but James was elected by the people, not the unions.

James must do more to better fund Hillside with state money. Taxes are skyrocketing and Hillside needs a man in Trenton who can demand the cash.

Additionally, auto insurance continues to be a problem despite the Democratic Party’s rhetoric claiming that they would solve it. And the recent doctors’ strike indicates that malpractice litigation is aggravating another state crisis. James needs to be able to work to stand up to the special interests, go against his friend the Governor, and do what is right.

But with a full-time job as Mayor of Newark, not to mention his legislative track record, all this may prove difficult for James to accomplish.