19 Facts About Barbara Buono

Barbara A Buono was born on July 28,1953 and is an American politician who served in the New Jersey Senate from 2002 to 2014, where she represented the 18th Legislative District.

Barbara Buono served from 2010 to 2012 as the Majority Leader in the Senate, succeeding Stephen Sweeney, and was succeeded by Loretta Weinberg.

Barbara Buono is a member of the Democratic Party and was the Democratic nominee for Governor of New Jersey in the 2013 general election, which she lost to Republican incumbent Chris Christie.

Barbara Buono was Democratic Conference Chair from 2004 to 2007.

Barbara Buono was born in Newark, grew up in Nutley, New Jersey and attended Nutley Public Schools, graduating from Nutley High School in 1971.

Barbara Buono is married to Dr Martin Gizzi and has four children with her first husband and two step-children with Dr Gizzi.

In 2015, Barbara Buono sold her home in Metuchen and moved to Portland, Oregon.

Barbara Buono began her career as a criminal trial attorney for the New Jersey Department of the Public Advocate and later entered private practice.

Barbara Buono first ran for local office on November 3,1992, serving on the Metuchen, New Jersey Borough Council from January 1,1993 to December 1,1994.

Barbara Buono ran against and beat incumbent Republican State Assemblywoman Joanna Gregory-Scocchi in 1994, who had been chosen by a Republican special convention in February 1994 to fill the vacant seat of Republican Assemblywoman Harriet Derman.

Barbara Buono served in the Senate on the Budget and Appropriations Committee, the Intergovernmental Relations Commission and the Joint Budget Oversight Committee.

Barbara Buono was the first woman to serve as Chair of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.

At the beginning of the 2010 session, Senator Barbara Buono became the first woman to be elected Majority Leader of the New Jersey State Senate.

Barbara Buono held the position through the end of the 2011 session, when she was succeeded by Loretta Weinberg, after Buono declined to agree with Senate President Stephen Sweeney on the terms of a power-sharing deal.

Barbara Buono was the author of the New Jersey "Anti-Bullying Law", which requires school districts to implement anti-harassment and bullying prevention policies to make schools safer for vulnerable children.

Barbara Buono was the prime sponsor of consumer protection measures restricting telemarketing by creating the most stringent "Do Not Call" database legislation in the nation.

Senator Barbara Buono is the prime sponsor of the law prohibiting the practice of predatory lending, in which lenders issue loans with hidden costs and excessive fees to homeowners, eroding their financial security and putting their homes at risk.

On December 11,2012, Barbara Buono announced her candidacy for Governor of New Jersey in the Democratic primary, with the winner to face Republican incumbent Chris Christie in the 2013 election.

Barbara Buono moved to Portland, Oregon in 2015 and became advisor to Mayor Ted Wheeler.