Aimee Belgard (born April 30, 1974), is an American lawyer and politician who serves as a judge in

New Jersey Superior Court The Superior Court is the state court in the U.S. state of New Jersey, with statewide trial and appellate jurisdiction. The New Jersey Constitution of 1947 establishes the power of the New Jersey courts.Jeffrey S. Mandel, New Jersey Appellate Pr ...

, she served as a

Burlington County, New Jersey Burlington County is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The county is the largest by area in New Jersey. Its county seat is Mount Holly.

Freeholder from 2013 until 2016, losing her re-election bid in November 2015. Belgard is a member of the Democratic Party. Belgard was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

New Jersey's 3rd congressional district New Jersey's 3rd congressional district is represented by Democrat Andy Kim of Moorestown who has served in Congress since 2019. It is one of seven districts that voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election while being held by ...

, losing to Republican

Tom MacArthur Thomas Charles MacArthur (born October 16, 1960) is an American former insurance executive and politician. He served as the U.S. representative for from 2015 to 2019. A Republican, MacArthur served on the city council of Randolph, New Jersey, ...

Personal life and education

Belgard attended

Haddonfield Memorial High School Haddonfield Memorial High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grade from Haddonfield, in Camden County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary scho ...

Haddonfield, New Jersey :''Not the fictional Illinois town from the Halloween film series.'' Haddonfield is a borough located in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough had a total population of 11,593,

. She earned a B.S. in Environmental Studies from

Stockton University Stockton University is a public university in Galloway Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. It is named for Richard Stockton, one of the New Jersey signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence ...

in 1996, and a J.D. from

Widener University School of Law Widener University Delaware Law School (Delaware Law School and formerly Widener University School of Law) is a private law school in Wilmington, Delaware. It is one of two separate ABA-accredited law schools of Widener University. Widener ...

in 1999.

Career

Belgard served as a member of the Edgewater Park Township Planning/Zoning Board for four years, before serving as an Edgewater Park Township Committeewoman from 2010 to 2013. She was elected to the

Burlington County Burlington County is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The county is the largest by area in New Jersey. Its county seat is Mount Holly.

Board of Freeholders in 2012. She had unsuccessfully run for the same office in 2010. In 2015, Belgard lost her seat on the Freeholder Board after serving only one term. Belgard spent 16 years as a trial and appellate lawyer for the law firm Sweeney and Sheehan. Additionally, she served on the board and as both vice president and president-elect of Board of the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. Established in 1913, the society is organized into six geographical regions of both medical and lay volunteers operating in more than ...

, Eastern Division. She also served on the national board of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and locally on the board of the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

Personal life

Belgard lives in

Edgewater Park Township, New Jersey Edgewater Park is a township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States and a northeastern Delaware Valley suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 8,881, reflecting an increase of 1,017 ( ...

with her husband, Bill, and two children.

2014 congressional campaign

Belgard was a congressional candidate for

, seeking the seat that was being vacated by Republican Congressman Jon Runyan. Her opponent was Republican

, a businessman and former mayor of Randolph. During the campaign,

Stuart Rothenberg Stuart Rothenberg is an American editor, publisher, and political analyst. He is best known for his biweekly political newsletter ''The Rothenberg Political Report'', now known as ''Inside Elections''. He was also a regular columnist at ''Roll ...

of ''

Roll Call ''Roll Call'' is a newspaper and website published in Washington, D.C., United States, when the United States Congress is in session, reporting news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, as well as political coverage of ...

'' said the "district is competitive, though it leans slightly Republican" and will be a "serious fight." Belgard was endorsed by the

National Organization for Women The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who b ...

League of Conservation Voters The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) is an American environmental advocacy group. LCV says that it "advocates for sound environmental laws and policies, holds elected officials accountable for their votes and actions, and elects pro-environmen ...

and

EMILY's List EMILY's List is an American political action committee (PAC) that aims to help elect Democratic female candidates in favor of abortion rights to office. It was founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1985. The group's name is an acronym for "Early Money ...

, a political action committee that supports pro-choice Democratic candidates. During the course of her campaign, Belgard defended the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...

as well as President Obama's decision not to inform Congress about the release of five terrorists from

Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp ( es, Centro de detención de la bahía de Guantánamo) is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also referred to as Guantánamo, GTMO, and Gitmo (), on the coast of Gua ...

. Belgard supports the Affordable Care Act and opposes attempts to repeal it, but was criticized by WPHT talk show host Dom Giordano for "giving vague responses to complaints about the law." She has criticized President Obama for his position on

Superstorm Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

aid. In February 2014,

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...

hosted a fundraiser for Belgard. The

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruits candidates, raises funds, and organizes races in ...

announced it would spend $1.3 million in ads supporting her campaign. One ad about her opponent's company, reported by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'', was described by Factcheck.org as deceptive, which the DCCC disputes. Belgard was criticized by the MacArthur campaign for voting in favor of a tax increase on small businesses as an Edgewater Park Committeewoman, and was criticized for accepting a taxpayer-funded salary in spite of an old campaign video claiming she would not do so. Belgard was also attacked by the MacArthur campaign for "ducking" the issue of whether or not she supported in-state tuition for illegal aliens. Belgard ultimately lost the election to MacArthur by an 11-point margin, narrowly winning the vote in Burlington County while losing the popular vote in Ocean County.

Election history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Belgard, Aimee 1974 births Living people Haddonfield Memorial High School alumni New Jersey Democrats New Jersey lawyers New Jersey state court judges People from Edgewater Park, New Jersey People from Haddonfield, New Jersey Stockton University alumni Widener University alumni County commissioners in New Jersey Place of birth missing (living people)