Linda R. Greenstein (born June 7, 1950) is an American attorney and politician who has served since 2010 as a member of the New Jersey Senate representing the 14th legislative district. She previously served in the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...

from 2000 to 2010.

Early life and education

Greenstein was born in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

borough of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and graduated from Andrew Jackson High School in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. She received an

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...

in Psychology in 1971, an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1974 from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

and was awarded a J.D. in 1984 from the

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

.Senator Greenstein's legislative web page
New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 27, 2022.

Career

Early career

She was a Clinical Associate Professor at the

Seton Hall University School of Law Seton Hall University School of Law is the law school of Seton Hall University, and is located in downtown Newark, New Jersey. Seton Hall Law is the only private law school in New Jersey, and, according to the ''U.S. News & World Report'' rankin ...

, where she supervised the Disability Law Clinic. She has served as a Deputy Attorney General in Trenton and as an Assistant District Attorney in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. Greenstein served on the Plainsboro Township Committee from 1995 to 2000 and on the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District's Board of Education from 1992 to 1994. Prior to her election to the General Assembly, she was a Senior Staff Attorney at the Community Health Law Project and supervised the Public Interest Legal Clinic at

Montclair State University Montclair State University (MSU) is a public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, the second largest public university in New ...

New Jersey Assembly

In the 1999 Assembly election, Republican incumbents

Paul Kramer Paul Kramer (September 6, 1933 – June 16, 2020) was an American Republican Party politician. He served four terms in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he represented the 14th Legislative District from 1992 to 2000. He was best known fo ...

and Barbara Wright were narrowly defeated by Democrats Greenstein and Gary Guear, with the incumbents losing votes in Hamilton Township, where Democrat Glen Gilmore won the race for mayor. The two gains were among the three Republicans seats Democrats picked up in the Assembly in the 1999 elections, though the Republicans retained their majority.Peterson, Iver
"On Politics; Making Headway, Democrats Look Toward Two Big Ones"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', November 7, 1999. Accessed June 8, 2010. She served in the Assembly for five terms from 2000 through 2010. She was the Assembly's Assistant Majority Leader from 2002, and the Deputy Speaker from 2006 to 2010. Greenstein served in the Assembly on the Judiciary Committee (as Chair) and the Health and Senior Services Committee. Greenstein was reelected in 2007 while participating in the New Jersey Clean Elections public funding program. During this campaign, Greenstein faced radio attack ads from a national third-party conservative group with ties to President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

2008 presidential campaign

In 2008, Greenstein initially attempted to serve as a delegate for the Hillary Clinton campaign, but the Clinton campaign declined to nominate her. Greenstein endorsed

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

presidential campaign President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...

prior to the 2008 Iowa caucus. Greenstein worked as a campaign surrogate prior to the June primary and served as an Obama delegate to

2008 Democratic National Convention The 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform and officially nominated its candidates for president and vice president. The convent ...

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

New Jersey Senate

In the 2010 special Senate election to fill the remainder of Bill Baroni's term, Greenstein ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. She defeated appointed

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...

Senator

Tom Goodwin Thomas Jones Goodwin (born July 27, 1968) is an American professional baseball coach and former player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 14 seasons, primarily as a center fielder, from 1991 to 2004. As a player, he was listed at and ...

, one of her opponents from the 2009 Assembly race. In 2011, Greenstein was re-elected over challenger Richard Kanka, father of murder victim

Megan Kanka The murder of Megan Nicole Kanka (December 7, 1986 – July 29, 1994) occurred in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. Seven-year-old Megan Kanka was raped and murdered by her neighbor, Jesse Timmendequas, after he lured ...

and driver behind

Megan's Law Megan's Law is the name for a federal law (and informal name for subsequent state laws) in the United States requiring law enforcement authorities to make information available to the public regarding registered sex offenders. Laws were creat ...

. In 2013, Greenstein faced former State Senator Peter Inverso, who represented the district from 1992 to 2008. Greenstein was re-elected to a second full term by 1,484 votes, the closest Senate margin in New Jersey that year. In 2017, her opponent was Hamilton Township Councilwoman Ileana Schirmer. Greenstein defeated Schirmer 56.3% to 43.7%.

Committees

*Law and Public Safety *Environment and Energy *Joint Committee on the Public Schools *Budget and Appropriations *Labor *Intergovernmental Relations Commission *Legislative Services Commission

District 14

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

. The representatives from the 14th District for the 2022—23 Legislative Session are: * Senator Linda R. Greenstein (D) * Assemblyman

Daniel R. Benson Daniel R. Benson (born November 22, 1975) is an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician who serves in the New Jersey New Jersey General Assembly, General Assembly representing the New Jersey's 14th legislative di ...

(D) * Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo (D)

2014 congressional election

In 2014, 12th congressional district

Representative Representative may refer to: Politics * Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people * House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities * Legislator, som ...

Rush D. Holt, Jr. Rush Dew Holt Jr. (born October 15, 1948) is an American scientist and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1999 to 2015. He is a member of the Democratic Party and son of former West Virginia U.S. Senator Rush D. Holt Sr ...

announced his retirement from Congress. Greenstein announced that she would seek the Democratic nomination for the seat the same day of Holt's announcement. Of the four counties in the district, she only received the county committee endorsement from her home county of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

. After Assemblywoman

Bonnie Watson Coleman Bonnie M. Watson Coleman (born February 6, 1945) is an American politician. She has served as the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 12th congressional district since 2015. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Watson Coleman served in th ...

received the Mercer County endorsement on March 22, Greenstein was recorded telling local county Democratic leaders, "I hate everybody in here. Everybody in here is my enemy – except for the people from

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

. The rest of you are my enemies." Her campaign responded to the leak with a statement saying, "This thinly veiled attempt at intimidation from unnamed party bosses unfortunately reeks of the kind of sexism successful women have had to contend with throughout history." Mercer County Democratic Party chairwoman Elizabeth Maher Muoio refuted this claim, saying "Clearly, the results were not what she had hoped for, but to blame them on sexism or on a closed process is deceptive, untrue and insulting." In the Democratic primary held on June 3, Watson Coleman defeated Greenstein, Assemblyman Upendra J. Chivukula and scientist

Andrew Zwicker Andrew P. Zwicker (born May 17, 1964) is an American physicist and politician who has served in the New Jersey Senate from the 16th Legislative District since 2022. He previously served in the New Jersey General Assembly representing the 16th ...

Personal life

She is a resident of Plainsboro Township, and had one son Evan, with her husband Michael Greenstein.Assembly Member Linda R. Greenstein

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in s ...

. Accessed August 10, 2007. Michael Greenstein died on November 1, 2017.

Electoral history

United States House of Representatives

New Jersey Senate

New Jersey Assembly

References

External links

Senator Greenstein's legislative web page
New Jersey Legislature *''New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms''
20112010200920082007200620052004Linda R. Greenstein

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenstein, Linda R. 1950 births Living people Georgetown University Law Center alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni Democratic Party New Jersey state senators New Jersey city council members Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly New Jersey lawyers People from Brooklyn People from Plainsboro Township, New Jersey Politicians from Mercer County, New Jersey Seton Hall University faculty Vassar College alumni Women state legislators in New Jersey Women city councillors in New Jersey 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Andrew Jackson High School (Queens) alumni American women academics