#1 Hart's Child Health Rally forced DeCroce and Pennachio to drop their resistance to giving voters a say on a ballot initiative to decide whether to clean up a portion of toxic school bus Diesel Fuel. In June o5, D and P had voted against having the ballot initiative. After Hart showed up in front of their offices with a group of toddlers, moms, an analytic chemist, a doctor specializing in childhood asthma, and a letter from learning disabilities expert, Terri Cavanaugh, D and P quickly reversed their position. After the rally, D and P proclaimed that Hart had misinterpreted their June "No" vote - saying that they actually supported passing the the initiative to help clean NJ schoolbus air.
#2 Even though D and P only agreed to one debate, Avery and Kate forced them to take part in three. Oh, if they had only been better attended!) Unbelievably, theincumbents walked out in the middle of the 3rd debate, claiming a previous engagement- even though the debate had been scheduled 4 months in advance! They literally walked away from the debate to go to yet another fundraiser, even though they had much more money that their challengers. To make matters worse, The Morris Daily Record failed to report this hasty exit when they reported about the debate.
#3 During the campaign, Avery pointed out to Chilton Hospital that giving incumbents a free 35,000 piece mailing was fundamentally unfair and wrong for democracy. The hospital did the right thing and cancelled Alex DeCroce's October appearance and newsletter write up. Because of that, the next fight will be at least little fairer.
#4 Kate and Avery raised the quality of civic dialogue by enouraging their opponents to drop their customary, nasty manner of communicating. After Avery's essay, "No More Sandbox Communuication" was published on-line at a popular NJ political site, the incumbents began expressing themselves more like respectful adults.
#5 Through a series of Property Tax Reform Forums in libraries, Avery opened up the subject of how to lower state property taxes and presented sensible and innovative ideas, like "Citizen's Choice Tax Reform Plan" to begin brainstorming solutions for the tax crisis.
In 2005 Kate McCabe and Avery Hart challenged incumbents Alex DeCroce and Joe Pennachio for Assembly representation of NJ's 26th district. Despite party registration of 4 to 1 against us and being outspent 14 to 1, 40% of district voters voted for Avery and Kate, not D and P. The incumbents lost about 10,000 votes from their last comparable race; Avery and Kate gained about 6,000. Thanks to these efforts, victory will hopefully closer for the next progressive candidates who stand up for the public good in the 26th.
#6 We gave the people of our "one party" district another choice and gave voice to the concerns of forward-thinking people.
