Brigid Callahan Harrison
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Brigid Callahan Harrison (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent New Jersey's 2nd Congressional District. She lost in the Democratic primary on July 7, 2020.
Harrison completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Brigid Callahan Harrison was born in Margate City, New Jersey. She obtained a bachelor's degree from Stockton University in May 1988, a master's degree from Rutgers University in 1991, and a Ph.D. from Temple University in January 1996. Harrison's professional experience includes working as a professor of political science and law at Montclair State University.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: New Jersey's 2nd Congressional District election, 2020
New Jersey's 2nd Congressional District election, 2020 (July 7 Republican primary)
New Jersey's 2nd Congressional District election, 2020 (July 7 Democratic primary)
General election
Democratic primary election
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Republican primary election
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Brigid Callahan Harrison completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Harrison's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Having lived in South Jersey my entire life, I have seen how our district has been forgotten over the years. I decided to run for office when Jeff Van Drew turned his back on our district by pledging his undying loyalty to Trump.
I have been incredibly fortunate during my life to have been afforded great opportunities, all of which came from the hard work and dedication that I plan to bring with me to Washington D.C., to represent my constituents to the best of my ability, and to reignite the South Jersey economy. I have also spent my life studying and teaching politics as a political science professor at Montclair State. I have been incredibly fortunate during my life to have been afforded great opportunities, all of which came from the hard work and dedication that I plan to bring with me to Washington D.C., to represent my constituents to the best of my ability, and to reignite the South Jersey economy after this crisis has left us beaten and tattered.
I am very fortunate to have earned the endorsements of over a dozen labor organizations, local politicians and both Senator Cory Booker and Senator Bob Menendez. Opposing cuts to Social Security and Medicare
Protecting the Environment
Legalizing Adult Use Cannabis
Labor Policy
Supporting Working Families
Election Reform
Affordable Healthcare Policy
Sensible Gun Safety Legislation
Ensuring Reproductive Justice
Protecting Our Veterans
Improving South Jersey's Infrastructure
Tax Fairness for South Jersey I look up to Sen. Cory Booker, and I would like to follow his example as a legislator. Sen. Booker is a person who sees the best in everyone, he approaches challenges in a passionate way, and develops solutions collaboratively. Over the next decade, the greatest challenge is unifying our divided nation, and Sen. Booker sets an admirable example of listening to those with whom he disagrees, treating everyone respectfully, and working from a guiding principle of honor and civility.
I am an academic, and so I am an incessant reader. Pointing to one volume and saying “that’s me” is a tough one, but I am inspired by Jon Meacham’s writings in The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels (Random House) and Cory Booker’s United: Thoughts on Finding Common Ground and Advancing the Common Good (Random House). But I can recommend some books that have informed my thinking on some key issues. Please bear with me: 😊
- On gun violence prevention: Parkland: Birth of a Movement by Dave Cullen (Harper)
- On education reform: Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools by Jonathan Kozol
- On income inequality: Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich (Picador).
- Foreign policy: Fascism: A Warning by Madeleine Albright (HarperCollins).
- Cannabis: The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander (New Press)
I think the most important principle is to be in elected office for the right reason – and that reason never has to do with the elected official. Sometimes an admirable motive is because of a stand on a particular issue. Other times it is to advocate for a particular constituency. For me, my motivation is that my community is greatly in need of help, and I believe that we need a strong voice representing us in Congress – someone who is going to be able to deliver help to my district. Southern Jersey’s economy has been struggling for decades, it has the highest foreclosure rate in the country, and the economic fallout from COVID-19 will be drastic. It will be imperative that we have a representative in this for the right reasons: to help our district, to advocate for businesses and workers, to articulate a vision of prosperity, and then help have that vision unfold.
One quality is that I have lived the struggles faced by many of my constituents. I have been a wage-worker, I have struggled to afford a college education, I have faced sexual harassment in the workplace, I have had to balance working and raising a family, and caring for aging parents, and then a caring for my terminally-ill spouse. As a parent, I am concerned about the future, including what hope our region’s economy brings young people. As the mom of an active duty military, I am concerned about how our nation’s foreign policy impacts our young men and women in the Armed Services. As a teacher, I’m concerned with the quality of our schools. And so when I think of a policy framework, it often is contextualized by my own experiences, but I also bring to the table the ability to genuinely listen to people, to hear how their experiences should shape my views. In addition, my policy expertise means that from these experiences and contexts, I have the know-how to craft policy solutions that can work to address the challenges faced by residents of my district.
The legacy I know I will leave are my three children, Caroline, Alexandra, and John, who are fantastic people, each working in their own unique ways to make the world a better place. I am incredibly proud of each of them. Politically: For my entire adult life, I have watched my congressional district struggle to create a viable, sustainable economy that provides a means by which men and women who live here can support their families with dignity. I would love for my legacy to be to have created that viable, sustainable structure that will ensure prosperity for residents of the district for generations to come.
The first historical event that I remember is the moon landing. I was three years old in 1968 when my big brother woke me up and said “Watch this! You’re going to remember this for the rest of your life!” (I do.) Another pivotal event I remember was watching Richard Nixon resign from office. I was in a Sears Roebuck and saw the event unfold simultaneously on about 20 televisions in the electronics department. I will never forget the many emotions –anger, sadness, disappointment and uncertainty – nine-year-old me saw on the adults faces watching that occur.
My very first job was as a 13-year-old at a shop on Atlantic City’s Boardwalk. I lasted three weeks and quit after being sexually harassed. I then got another job, at a competing shop, The "Just Looking" shop at Morris Avenue on the Boardwalk, and worked there summers and after school until I was 18 and old enough to get a job at the Tropicana. Working at the casino enabled me to work full time and be able to pay my way through college. These experiences deeply inform my decision to run for office, as I faced issues that women have dealt with in the workplace since forever, and also grew to
gain a firsthand understanding of the issues facing employees and businesses in the largest industry in my district.
The largest struggle I have had to face was when my late husband was diagnosed with Early-Onset Alzheimer’s disease. At the time, my children were 12, 6, and 3 and I was faced not only with raising them alone but also navigating my husband’s care, which progressed from figuring out how to ease his way out of a career that he had loved and devoted his life to, to balancing the day-to-day struggle to keep him safe while trying to provide some semblance of normalcy for my kids. Some days were bad. And toward the end, I faced crippling financial crises as my out-of-pocket health care expenses exceeded $83,000 in the last year of my husband’s life in 2009. From that experience, I walked away with the knowledge that health care is a human right, and no one should be forced to make the choice between a loved one’s care and a roof over one’s head. But the other thing was internal – from that experience I developed personal strength and fortitude – an unshakeable knowledge of what is important (and what’s not), and dare I say an unflappability – that will serve me and my constituents well in Congress.
It’s proximity to the people is it defining characteristic. It is the most representative institution in our representative democracy, and therefore is it imperative that congressmembers work to truly represent the needs of the constituents who elect them rather than the monied interests that bankrolls them.
I think it can be, but I also think that some representatives should be regular citizens. I think that part of the problem with Congress’s low overall approval rating is the disconnect that so many people feel with Congress. The institutionalism that has developed has meant that some members don’t try to be connected to the people who elect them.
Because of the economic straits that my district is in – it was first devastated by the expansion of casino gaming in the early aughts, then the real estate bubble bust, then the Great Recession, then Hurricane Sandy, and now COVID-19, I would like to secure a spot on the Infrastructure Committee. As a representative from South Jersey, it is imperative that we develop a vision for economic development in the region that is not purely tourism-centric. Part of my vision for the district is developing and revitalizing communities by ensuring that residents have viable means to live in South Jersey and find jobs here and in nearby areas. It is also imperative that we increase our viability as a tourist destination by making our area more accessible to the region.
Yes, I think that the founders structured the House to be accountable to the people, and the comparatively short term means that they have to regularly connect with and be accountable to their constituents.
I don’t believe that terms limits are the solution to our current governmental crisis because if we make the system, especially elections, fairer, term limits would be unnecessary. If elections are fair representations of the will of the people rather than slam dunks by determined by structural incumbency advantage and the importance of money in elections, terms would be limited by people dissatisfied with the representation they are receiving.
I am not, and I would be interested because I think it is important that the leadership stand for core Democratic principles while also ending the logjam characteristic of the current hyper-partisan climate in Washington.
Rep. William Hughes who represented my district for 20 years was a friend and mentor. Bill was known for the dignity with which he served, a strong moral compass, a willingness to reach across the aisle and conduct himself with civility toward all. Bill had an enviable combination of being both an impeccable representative at home in the district and working to improve the lives of his constituents through his public policy decisions in Washington, DC. Bill worked hard and was very successful at helping his constituents and conducting himself admirably in office.
There have been so many. One that was particularly profound was the story of a woman I met from Bridgeton. She is a minimum wage worker with two daughters and she told me a story that showed me that we need to carefully consider the unintended consequences of political decisions. So this woman rents and apartment in a tri-plex, and when the Trump administration eliminated the SALT tax deduction, her landlord saw his property tax liability increase, and so her rent was increased by $180 per month. This increase was before COVID-19, and the increase meant that the woman would be forced to choose between buying groceries and paying rent. Before I heard this story, I was opposed to the elimination of the SALT tax deduction because it disproportionately hurts New Jerseyans who pay more than their fair share to subsidize other states, but I had not thought of the potential implications for low-wage earners who would see the elimination of the deduction passed on by their landlords. I was grateful to her for sharing her story and teaching me about this.
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See also
External links
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 8, 2020
Senators
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Republican Party (3)
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