By Brinda Patel
Correspondent
From academic challenges during childhood to majoring in glassblowing at Bucks County Community College while searching for her path, Assemblywoman Andrea Katz is an example of confronting any hurdle to become the best version of yourself.
Today, Katz represents the 8th Legislative District, which includes Atlantic and Burlington counties, alongside Assemblyman Anthony Angelozzi. She started her political journey 12 years ago after she and her husband moved their family to Chesterfield. During that time, Chesterfield had only one person running for public office. There wasn’t a Democrat candidate on the ballot.
“I looked at my ballot the day of the primary, and there was just one Republican guy running for township committee,” said Katz. “And no Democrat. So partisan stuff aside, that meant he’d win uncontested from primary to general.”
This did not sit well with Katz and she wrote out a campaign proposal for herself at 3 p.m. that very afternoon. However, she said her efforts were in vain because there is a prerequisite threshold of votes she’d need to meet to be considered as a candidate.
As she reflects on that time, Katz said that her husband was worried for her. He couldn’t believe she had written herself in for this political race. His colleague, Grace Power, took Katz under her wing after he told her about his wife’s political aspirations.
Consequently, Katz headed the Women’s Political Caucus of New Jersey. Their mission encourages women’s participation in the political process and creates a safe space for all women running for public office.
Katz said she was motivated and was looking for anybody to run alongside her in 2014. There were three seats available at that time and there wasn’t a Democratic Party in town.
“It just ended up being me at the end against three men because my running mate had dropped out,” said Katz. “And I didn’t win. And I will tell you, that was one of the hardest nights ‘cause I had knocked on so many doors. I had put so much effort into this.”
Despite the loss and negative feedback, she was motivated to help her school district.
“Chesterfield is an inadequated school district, and I intended to change that,” said Katz. “And they all laughed at me.”
She served on the Chesterfield Township school board and advocated for children, school funding and increased mental health services and awareness for the youth in her town and beyond it. During her time there, she also built a coalition for mothers across New Jersey to make sure that every kid gets the academic help they need.
Although she loved her time on the school board, her main goal was to run for public office no matter any obstacle.
She ran once again in 2016, and won. She was the highest vote getter on the ballot in Chesterfield. She holds only gratitude for this victory.
“We now have two parties in town,” said Katz. “Sometimes the Republicans have control and sometimes the Democrats do. But we always have competitive elections and I take pride in that because that’s what started me wanting to make sure that people in my town had that choice.”
In the present day, Katz said she has no plans of slowing down her advocacy. She serves as the Chair for multiple committees in the Assembly. She is currently advocating for a three bill package: A4013, A4014 and A4015, protecting kids from the harms of prolonged social media use to be signed into law. As of Feb. 19, the bill package passed the Assembly.
Her three children, ages 19, 17 and 14, were the source of inspiration for these proposed legislations and her overall political ambitions, she said.
“What I see in my kids is what inspires me to keep going to make sure that tomorrow is even better than today,” said Katz. “And that today is better than yesterday.”
Katz said she does not know how her journey in the Assembly will wrap up down the line. She is leaving it up in the air because there is so much more to be done.
However, she said she is grateful to have met so many people that have inspired her. Assemblywomen Luanne Peterpaul, Margie Donlon, Rosie Bagolie and Carmen Morales have become her best friends, she added.
“Assemblywoman Katz brings a thoughtful and steady voice to the Assembly,” said Bagolie. Her commitment to public service and her willingness to work collaboratively on behalf of New Jersey families reflects the very best of what public service should be.”
The Office of Assemblywomen Peterpaul and Donlon shared the same sentiment for Katz in a joint statement. “Asw. Katz is a true advocate for our youth, and has been a tremendous partner in the Assembly. Her proposed legislation to hold online service providers more accountable is the kind of protection our children, and their families, deserve. I am proud to cosponsor her ‘New Jersey Kids Code Act,’ to share such important values with a legislator of her caliber, and to call her a friend.”
Katz said her advice to her past self, when she was starting her political journey is to “not let anybody tell you to be different” and “stay authentic to who you are and what’s important to you.” She said she believes that her younger self, 10 or 20 years ago, would be in awe of how far she has come and what she has been able to accomplish.
