New Jersey Senator Loretta Weinberg is retiring this year after serving in the Senate since 2005. She was first elected to public office on the Teaneck Township Council in 1990, completing her council term in 1994. She served in the Assembly from 1992 until 2005. In the Assembly, Weinberg served as the Majority Conference Leader from 2002 to 2005, Deputy Minority Leader from 1996 to 2001 and Assistant Minority Leader from 1994 to 1996.

Throughout her years in the Senate, Senator Weinberg has been an unstoppable advocate for populist causes including sponsoring marriage equality for same sex couples when it had little support in the Legislature. Senator Weinberg’s advocacy for the LGBTQ community was relentless. She co-authored, with Senator Raymond Lesniak, a book titled, What’s Love Got To Do With It: The Case For Same Sex Marriage.

Senator Weinberg broke through two glass ceilings, being the Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor on Governor Jon Corzine’s re-election ticket and served as Senate Majority Leader from 2012 to the present.

Weinberg played a major role in revealing the Fort Lee lane closure scandal. After reading about traffic jams in the Bergen Record, Weinberg began attending public meetings of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Weinberg convinced fellow legislators to take an interest in the case resulting in Port Authority officials being subpoenaed about the lane closures and it becoming a major controversy for Governor Christie.

A fierce advocate for responsible gun control, Weinberg sponsored the 2002 New Jersey Childproof Handgun Law, which would restrict the sale of handguns in NJ to smart guns that “can only be fired by an authorized or recognized user” three years after the technology became generally available.

Always a fierce advocate for her constituents, Weinberg was almost solely responsible for a new Port Authority bus terminal in Manhattan replacing the current rundown location confronting many of her Bergen County commuters.

If there was a cause worth advocacy, New Jersey residents could rely on Senator Weinberg being in its forefront. Women’s History Month is made for Senator Weinberg.