Press Release

88 NJ Women Leaders: ‘Time’s Up, Mr. Hugin’ 

Call Hugin’s fight against women’s inclusion at Princeton ‘permanent stain’ disqualifying him from ever representing NJ

New Brunswick, NJ – A group of 88 prominent female leaders from across New Jersey issued the following statement in response to reports of greedy drug company CEO Bob Hugin’s troubling pattern of intolerance, including when he actively fought against women’s inclusion at Princeton University.  As an undergrad, Hugin also led a petition drive to force the university to reverse its decision to extend anti-discrimination protections to LGBTQ students and said if a member of his exclusive, all-male Tiger Inn eating club was gay, “he wouldn’t last long.”

“It is outright appalling that Bob Hugin actively fought against women joining his exclusive, all-male Princeton University eating club while serving as its alumni board President.  It cannot be tolerated by any individual seeking to represent New Jersey.

“The breadth of Mr. Hugin’s opposition is astonishing.  When the New Jersey Supreme Court ended the social club’s discriminatory policy and opened the doors to women, he called the decade-long fight for inclusion ‘politically correct fascism.’  But Hugin didn’t stop there.  After his Tiger Inn was forced to accept women in 1991, Hugin went to federal court in hopes of preserving ‘the right to determine our own membership.’  And when his legal efforts to discriminate against women failed again, Hugin expressed disappointment, insisting ‘we had a strong case and a high probability of winning.’

“Mr. Hugin cannot claim that these were the mere actions of a young, naive student. These were the calculated attempts of a grown man.  Bob Hugin was in his mid-to-late 30s and married when he waged his delusional war to subjugate women and preserve the glory days of male dominance he so fondly enjoyed as an undergrad.  Most damningly, because women had already been admitted as members of Tiger Inn, Mr. Hugin’s federal lawsuit sought both to exclude women from joining and to purge current female members.  He spent at least a year in litigation attempting to undo a New Jersey Supreme Court injunction so he could satisfy his discriminatory impulses.

“Bob Hugin’s actions raise serious questions about his ability to lead and represent New Jersey in the United States Senate.  This is a permanent stain in his personal history, only reinforced by the millions he’s continued to donate to anti-choice candidates and organizations.  Bob Hugin donated the maximum allowable to Donald Trump—a candidate notorious for his misogyny and bragging of sexually assaulting women—served as his state finance chair and a Trump delegate to the Republican National Committee.  It shows a lifelong pattern of intolerance that suggests he would oppose equal pay and workplace rights for women.  A photo released last month by his campaign with Hugin and his 14 interns most noticeably included no women in sight.

“As when his company paid $280 million in settlement fees for price-gouging cancer patients, Mr. Hugin must be held accountable for his actions.  If conservative reactionaries such as Ryan Bounds can be disqualified as a federal judge for past discriminatory writings, voters should disqualify Bob Hugin as a Senate candidate for his gender-based discrimination.  He cannot be counted on to represent 9 million New Jerseyans, more than half of whom are women.  Time’s up, Mr. Hugin.  You will not be representing us.”

Signed,

Afsheen Shamsi, Steering Committee Member, NJDSC South Asian American Caucus

Alison Arne, Atlantic County Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Amie Maria, Cumberland/Salem County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Amy DeGise, Chair, Hudson County Democratic Organization

Analilia Mejia, Executive Director, New Jersey Working Families Alliance

Andrea Smith, Cape May County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Angela Bardoe, Cumberland/Salem County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Angela McKnight, Assemblymember

Angelica Jimenez, Assemblymember

Annette Quijano, Assemblymember

Anita Esteve, Morris County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Ann Twomey, President, Health Professionals and Allied Employees

Anna Maria Tejada, Past President, Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey

Anna Wong, Northeast Regional Director, Action Together New Jersey

Arlene Quinones Perez, Chair, Hunterdon County Democratic Committee

Ashley Henderson, President, Princeton Marching Forward

Barbra Casbar Siperstein, Gender Rights Advocacy Association of NJ

Caitlin Sherman, Hudson County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Careen DeAndrea Lazarus, Passaic County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Carmen Salavarrieta, Angels in Action

Cathy Brienza, JOLT USA

Caty Polanco, Latin American Democratic Association

Cheryl Marciano, Warren County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Christina Zuk, Vice President, New Jersey Young Democrats

Christine Clarke, Environmental Director, Action Together New Jersey

Christine Elias, Gloucester County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Deb Huber, President, NOW-NJ

Devon Mazza, Ocean County Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Donna M Chiera, President, AFTNJ

Dr. Hetal Gor, Advisory Board, NJDSC South Asian American Caucus

Dr. Khyati Y. Joshi, Professor, Fairleigh Dickinson University

Edina Brown, Councilmember, Old Bridge

Elizabeth Cano, Union County Latina Activist

Elizabeth Meyer, Founder, NJ Women’s March

Erin Chung, President and Founder, Women for Progress

Estina Baker, CWA District 1

Gail Black, Statewide Jewish Women’s Advocate

Hetty Rosenstein, CWA

Iris Perrot, Warren County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Jaci Jones, President, Middlesex County Federation of Democratic Women

Jackie Low, Bergen County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Jeanne Fox, Esq., Former BPU President

Jeanne Jordan, Gloucester County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Jill Rhodes, Morris County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Joan Jacobsen, Sussex County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Joan Quigley, Former President of the State Junior Women’s Clubs

Joann Downey, Assemblymember

Kellie Davidson, Morris County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Kelly Shea, Warren County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Laurel Brennan, Secretary-Treasurer, New Jersey State AFL-CIO

Lauren Nicosia, Women’s Health Advocate

Lenace Edwards, SEIU 32BJ

Leslie Huhn, Chair, Sussex County Democratic Committee

Linda Sloan Locke, CNM,LSW

Lindsay Campbell, President, Sussex County NOW

Lisa Anderson, Sussex County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Lisa Bonanno, Gloucester County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Lizette Delgado-Polanco, Vice Chair, New Jersey State Democratic Committee

Marcia Marley, BlueWave NJ

Margaret Weinberger, President, Somerset County Federation of Democratic Women

Megan Coyne, President, College Democrats of New Jersey

Mildred Scott, Sheriff, Middlesex County

Nancy Pitkin, Assemblywoman

Nedia Morsy, Make the Road Action

Pamela Brug, Union County Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Pamela Renee, Councilwoman, Neptune City

Pat Perkins Auguste, Councilwoman, Elizabeth

Patricia Campos, LUPE PAC

Patricia Soteropoulos, Morris County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Patricia Teffenhart, Gender Equity Advocate

Patti Douglass, Morris County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Peg Schaffer, Chair, Somerset County Democratic Committee

Phyllis Salowe-Kay

Rachel Barry, Morris County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Regina Keelan, Democratic Municipal Chair, Atlantic Highlands

S. Nadia Hussain, Passaic County Director, NJDSC South Asian American Caucus

Safanya Searcy, Labor Leader and Community Activist

Saily M. Avelenda, Esq., Attorney and Activist

Sara Cullinane, Make the Road Action

Shanel Robinson, Deputy Mayor, Franklin Township

Shanti Narra, Middlesex County Freeholder

Shelly Morningstar, Morris County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Stephanie Silvera, Passaic County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Susan Lavine Coleman, Burlington County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Tammi Bathke, Burlington County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey

Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, Assemblywoman

Winn Khuong, Executive Director, Action Together New Jersey

Yvonne Lopez, Assemblymember