Arline Friscia

Arline M. Friscia is an American politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1996 to 2002, where she represented the 19th Legislative District. Originally elected as a Democrat, Friscia switched to the Republican Party in 2003 after losing organization support for her re-election bid from the Democratic Party in that year's primary.

Friscia earned her undergraduate degree in music from Caldwell College and was awarded an M.A. from Seton Hall University in Administration and Supervision. Before taking office in the Assembly, Friscia served on the Woodbridge Township Council from 1988 to 1991.[1]

Democrats statewide saw a net gain of three seats in the Assembly in the 1995 elections, with two of the pickups coming in the 19th District where Friscia and John S. Wisniewski knocked off the Republican incumbents Stephen A. Mikulak and Ernest L. Oros.[2] She was re-elected with Wisniewski in 1997, 1999 and 2001.[3] While in the Assembly, Friscia served as Associate Minority Leader starting in 1998 and was a member of the Labor Committee and the Senior Issues and Community Services Committee.[1] In the Assembly, Friscia sponsored a bill that would expand the state's family leave law by allowing those on leave to collect unemployment for 12 weeks and would make New Jersey the first state in the nation to adopt a provision requiring all business with 50 or more employees to hire back an employee at the same or comparable position after they return from their leave.[4]

In the 2003 Democratic primary, Friscia lost the official endorsement of the Middlesex County Democratic Organization, which went instead to Perth Amboy mayor Joseph Vas, leading Friscia to switch her party affiliation. Friscia objected to being knocked off the party line, stating that "a history of women being knocked off tickets in Middlesex County" exists as "part of a long sad history of the Democratic Party disenfranchising qualified women".[5]

References

  1. 1 2 Assemblywoman Arline M. Friscia, New Jersey Legislature, backed up by the Internet Archive as of February 22, 1998. Accessed June 3, 2010.
  2. ↑ Associated Press. "DEMOCRATS CHIP AWAY AT GOP IN ASSEMBLY", The Press of Atlantic City, November 8, 1995. Accessed July 7, 2010. "In the 19th, the Democratic sweep will bring John Wisniewski and Arline Friscia to office."
  3. ↑ NJ Assembly 19 - History, OurCampaigns.com. Accessed June 3, 2010.
  4. ↑ Garhunathan, Abhi. "THE CAPITOL; A Feud Brewing Over Family Leave", The New York Times, February 4, 2001. Accessed June 3, 2010.
  5. ↑ Fitzgerald, Barbara. Reflections on a Glass Ceiling", The New York Times, August 10, 2003. Accessed June 3, 2010.
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