June 3, 2005 DiGaetano bid streeses roots of working man
By Lilo Stainton of Gannett
NEW BRUNSWICK HOME NEWS TRIBUNE
NUTLEY — When primary voters head to the polls Tuesday morning, most of the Republican gubernatorial candidates will spend every last minute stumping for votes.
But Assemblyman Paul DiGaetano, R-Bergen, Essex, one of seven GOP candidates, will take up his traditional Tuesday spot in the car-pool rotation. Despite offers from campaign aides, DiGaetano insisted — even on primary day — on personally delivering his oldest son, Joseph, and three other boys to school at Seton Hall Prep.
"I've been doing it for three years. It's not something new," DiGaetano explained, noting that his wife, Yvonne, must ferry their younger sons to class.
Last week, the family of five planned to spend Wednesday night and Thursday together to celebrate the eighth-grade graduation of 14-year-old Paul Jr., their middle son. This role as a family man with blue-collar roots is a central theme in his gubernatorial bid.
"I've tried to balance the really important events with the campaigning," said DiGaetano.
After serving 16 years on the City Council in his hometown of Passaic, DiGaetano was elected to the Assembly in 1985 and served one term. He then ran for state Senate but lost. In 1991 voters sent him back to the Assembly, and he's been re-elected seven times in a heavily Democratic district.
DiGaetano, who led the Assembly Republican caucus from 1996 to 2003, credits his experience and working-class appeal for his political success.
"Of all the seven candidates, he may not have the money to win, but he's got the best talent of all of them," said former Assemblyman John V. Kelly, a Republican who served in the same district. "Nobody can pull the wool over his eyes in Trenton."
Assemblyman Joseph Cryan, D-Union, the vice chairman of the state Democratic Party, said he is a bit surprised that DiGaetano is not running stronger in the polls. "He's a class guy," Cryan said. "He carries himself well, his word is good."
"When you look in from the other side, I thought, as a moderate with these issues, I thought he'd be doing better," Cryan said.
DiGaetano, who has never run for statewide office, said he decided to run for governor the morning after Republican legislators took a licking in the 2003 Assembly elections. He concluded that changes to the state's map of legislative districts basically protected the Democrats' majority for years to come.
"I did not agree with the direction the state was taking, and the budget practices, and the only way to make that change was to become governor," DiGaetano said.
