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Mario De Santis

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Mario De Santis
Image of Mario De Santis
Elections and appointments
Last election

June 6, 2023

Education

Bachelor's

Rowan University, 2011

Graduate

Boston University, 2015

Personal
Birthplace
New Jersey
Profession
Teacher
Contact

Mario De Santis (Democratic Party) ran for election to the New Jersey State Senate to represent District 3. He lost in the Democratic primary on June 6, 2023.

De Santis completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Mario De Santis was born in New Jersey. He earned a bachelor's degree form Rowan University in 2011 and a master's degree from Boston University in 2015. As of October 2021, DeSantis was pursuing his Ph.D. at Boston University. His career experience includes working as a middle and high school teacher. DeSantis has been affiliated with the New Jersey Educators’ Association and the National Educators’ Association.[1][2]

Elections

2023

See also: New Jersey State Senate elections, 2023

General election

General election for New Jersey State Senate District 3

John Burzichelli defeated incumbent Edward R. Durr in the general election for New Jersey State Senate District 3 on November 7, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of John Burzichelli
John Burzichelli (D)
 
53.6
 
32,382
Image of Edward R. Durr
Edward R. Durr (R)
 
46.4
 
28,018

Total votes: 60,400
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Jersey State Senate District 3

John Burzichelli defeated Mario De Santis in the Democratic primary for New Jersey State Senate District 3 on June 6, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of John Burzichelli
John Burzichelli
 
73.8
 
9,391
Image of Mario De Santis
Mario De Santis Candidate Connection
 
26.2
 
3,333

Total votes: 12,724
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Republican primary election

Republican primary for New Jersey State Senate District 3

Incumbent Edward R. Durr defeated Beth Sawyer in the Republican primary for New Jersey State Senate District 3 on June 6, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Edward R. Durr
Edward R. Durr
 
65.2
 
6,629
Image of Beth Sawyer
Beth Sawyer
 
34.8
 
3,538

Total votes: 10,167
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Endorsements

De Santis received the following endorsements.

2022

See also: New Jersey's 1st Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House New Jersey District 1

Incumbent Donald Norcross defeated Claire Gustafson, Patricia Kline, Isaiah Fletcher, and Allen Cannon in the general election for U.S. House New Jersey District 1 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Donald Norcross
Donald Norcross (D)
 
62.3
 
139,559
Image of Claire Gustafson
Claire Gustafson (R)
 
35.2
 
78,794
Image of Patricia Kline
Patricia Kline (For the People)
 
1.5
 
3,343
Image of Isaiah Fletcher
Isaiah Fletcher (L)
 
0.7
 
1,546
Image of Allen Cannon
Allen Cannon (Cannon Fire)
 
0.3
 
642

Total votes: 223,884
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 1

Incumbent Donald Norcross defeated Mario De Santis in the Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 1 on June 7, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Donald Norcross
Donald Norcross
 
76.7
 
44,985
Image of Mario De Santis
Mario De Santis Candidate Connection
 
23.3
 
13,696

Total votes: 58,681
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 1

Claire Gustafson defeated Damon Galdo in the Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 1 on June 7, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Claire Gustafson
Claire Gustafson
 
69.0
 
13,411
Image of Damon Galdo
Damon Galdo
 
31.0
 
6,034

Total votes: 19,445
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Campaign themes

2023

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Mario De Santis completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by De Santis' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Mario De Santis - “The Good De Santis” - is a lifelong resident of South Jersey. A product of public education, he grew to understand the role public schools play in cultivating strong communities. Following his late grandparents’ footsteps, Mario proudly carried their legacy and became a middle and high school teacher. Working in several school districts, Mario witnessed first-hand the disparities that exist within our public school system. Seeking to improve education for all students, Mario is currently pursuing his doctoral degree with a research emphasis on educational inequities.


Acknowledging the challenges our public schools currently face, Mario continues to be a prominent advocate for both teachers and students. Realizing that education is the avenue for social and economic advancement, Mario envisions a system in which a child’s educational opportunities aren’t limited by the zip code into which they’re born. Considering the record number of teachers leaving the classroom, Mario is prepared to confront the crisis head-on and make sure education policy is guided by professionals - not legislators who have never stepped foot inside a classroom.


In 2021, Mario was named a top LGBTQ activist in the state by NJ Insider. Considering Ed Durr’s attacks on the LGBTQ and other marginalized communities, Mario is even more committed
  • For the first time in decades, the Democrats of NJ’s 3rd Legislative District have a choice in the June 6 primary election. It’s time for us to come together to claim a new vision: safe neighborhoods, good paying jobs with benefits, investments in local economies, making home ownership a reality, a clean environment, easing the burden of student loans, restoring COLAs for retired workers, and fully-funding our public schools. As three teachers, union members, and community advocates, we’ve come together to create one voice around the issues that matter most to you. Our focus is on solutions - not politics. With your help, we can make our district a leading example of what it looks like to put people first!
  • Pay-to-play politics and our obscure ballot system has allowed New Jersey politicians to stay in office far beyond their prime.
  • Healthcare is a human right.
Education, public safety, healthcare, & economic opportunities
Progressive Democrats of New Jersey, Voters of Tomorrow New Jersey

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2022

Candidate Connection

Mario De Santis completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by De Santis' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Mario De Santis is a public-school teacher and progressive Democrat running for office in New Jersey's First Congressional District.

Early in his career, Mario discovered his musical talents could serve as avenues for building community and promoting advocacy. One of his first jobs was working with The Gabriel Project, a fine and performing arts non-profit which sought to ease the burden of children's medical expenses. Understanding this valuable lesson, he challenged his own students to apply their talents to provide relief during the pandemic and organized similar efforts. The result of these projects provided relief aid for the Camden County Women's Shelter and the Community FoodBank of New Jersey - efforts featured on the local news and honored by the State BOE.

During the pandemic, Mario advocated for New Jersey's immigrant students and joined a coalition of teachers to pressure our legislature to include immigrant families in COVID-19 relief aid. He successfully lobbied to increase accessibility of local municipal meetings and was a strong voice in calling on the federal Department of Education to issue waivers for state standardized tests. During this time, he organized local actions and met with congressional staff to compel representatives to support universal healthcare.

Mario is currently an ABD doctoral candidate at Boston University (dissertation topic: educational disparities through the lens of critical race and disruptive innovation theories).
  • I believe healthcare is a human right – that you should be able to see a doctor if you need to. You should be able to get the treatment or medicine you need without the threat of financial disaster. I also believe the quality of care you receive shouldn’t depend on your financial status. We’re a more productive, healthier, prosperous country if we’re all healthy. Nearly every other developed country in the world recognizes this and has guaranteed healthcare as a human right.
  • I imagine a country that protects the planet for the sake of its children. We must commit to a war-time effort to transform our energy sources from fossil fuels to carbonless, renewable energy sources. We have coalesced in similar ways before and I'm confident we'll adopt a similar commitment to protecting the planet - our children depend on us to do so.
  • We're going to transform the act of caring for the poor from an act of charity to a normal function within an equitable healthcare system.
Though there are many policies in need of reform, there are three that bleed into nearly every sector of our lives and perpetuate classism and injustice.

Climate change,: we must commit to a war-time effort to transform our energy sources from fossil fuels to carbonless, renewable energies. The Amazon now emits more carbon than it absorbs. Australia burned 42 million acres in 2019-2020. Entire ecosystems have been disrupted. If we have no planet, what is left to fight for?
Healthcare: As we emerge from the pandemic, we've witnessed the failures of our healthcare system. Millions lost their jobs and subsequently their insurance during the 2009 recession. Millions lost their jobs and subsequently their insurance during a pandemic. There's never been a more urgent need for a single-payer universal healthcare system that guarantees healthcare as a human right from the time of birth.

Education: Education is often touted as a social equalizer. It has been purported to facilitate the advancement of one’s professional and economic mobility and has been associated with improved health and greater social capital. Acknowledging opportunities for such social and economic advancement, institutions around the world have declared that access to education is a human right. Despite these pledges, the achievement and wage gaps between students suggest that these academic and economic benefits are bestowed discriminately.
A product of public education, he grew to appreciate the role public schools play in cultivating strong communities. Though he faced challenges growing up in a socially conservative district as an openly gay student, it was his classroom teachers who made him feel safest. These experiences solidified his life-long commitment to education and advocating for others.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 30, 2021
  2. Ballotpedia staff, "Email correspondence with Mario DeSantis," October 19, 2021