BettyLou DeCroce announced today that she will seek the Republican nomination for the State Assembly in District  26,which covers parts of  Morris and Passaic counties.

DeCroce formerly represented the two counties in the Assembly for nine years under the old legislative district map, which was redrawn last year. She is a resident of Parsippany.

DeCroce says she is running because “we desperately need to elect  effective conservatives to the state legislature.”

“The state continues to slide into deeper and deeper into trouble under Democratic leadership,” said DeCroce.  “Working people need representatives in Trenton who will put in the extra work it takes to make positive changes in their lives. I am committed to making those changes.”

DeCroce says a key part of her plan to bring effective  conservatism to the state legislature is to get the public debate out of Trenton and bring it to  communities in the district.

DeCroce says if elected she will host regular townhall meetings in the district and inform people on what is happening in  state government and how people can  work on together to bring change to New Jersey.

“Speeches on the floor of the Statehouse are not changing anything,” said DeCroce.  “But an informed and energized electorate will.”

High on DeCroce’s agenda is her pledge to fight for the protection of  parent’s rights in their children’s education. “Our children should graduate school with marketable skills in a competitive global environment, not with mastery of the woke agenda,” says DeCroce.

ADDRESSING EDUCATION AID

To address the state’s high property taxes, DeCroce said she will tackle the longstanding problem of  the  inequitable distribution of school aid in New Jersey – a problem DeCroce has raised in the Assembly, calling for a statewide audit of education funding.

“New Jersey spends billions of taxpayer dollars on education, but relatively little of it goes to middle-class school districts, – such as those in Morris and suburban Passaic counties.”

“The imbalance in state education aid forces suburban homeowners and renters to pay a disproportionately high share of their children’s education. That’s unfair and it  drives up the cost of home ownership in New Jersey.  The burden of high property taxes is a determining factor in homeowner affordability,” says DeCroce, a realtor for 26 years.

The state’s growing crime problem is high on DeCroce’s agenda. The Democrats’ soft on crime approach  – and their disrespect for law enforcement —  is endangering neighborhoods throughout the state. Stolen cars and violent home break-ins are rampant in Morris and Passaic counties.

“As a conservative Republican, a mother and grandmother, I have no higher priority than protecting the safety of our families and senior citizens,” said DeCroce.

Summing up her campaign, DeCroce said is her determination to fight the damage that woke Democrats are doing to New Jersey. “I’m pro-family, pro-business and pro-taxpayer and I have more experience in government than most people in the state legislature. I know how to get things done.”  said DeCroce.

The new District 26 includes the following municipalities: Morris  County: Boonton, Denville, East Hanover, Hanover, Florham Park, Lincoln Park, Mountain Lakes, Montville, Morris Plains, Parsippany, Pequannock and Riverdale. In Passaic County: Bloomingdale, Pompton Lakes, Ringwood, & Wanaque.