Out of the public eye since Jim Florio lost re-election in 1993, Stephanie Bush-Baskette returned to a prominent role in New Jersey politics with her election last night as a Democratic National Committeewoman. She defeated Christine “Roz” Samuels, a Montclair Democratic official and former Newark Teachers’ Union leader.
Bush-Baskette was 34-years-old when she first won public office in 1987. She was elected to the State Assembly in the old Oranges district (Richard Codey was the State Senator) when the Essex County Democratic organization decided to drop five-term incumbent Mildred Barry Garvin. Held in fairly high regard as a legislator, Bush-Baskette was re-elected in 1989 and 1991 with little trouble in a heavily Democratic district.
When Melvin “Randy” Primas resigned as Commissioner of Community Affairs in 1992, Gov. Jim Florio picked Bush-Baskette for the post. Her resignation from the Assembly, and the 1992 retirement of veteran Assemblyman Harry McEnroe, paved the way for Nia Gill and LeRoy Jones to go to the Assembly.
After leaving public office, Bush, an attorney, pursued a Ph.D. in criminal justice, and is now the director of the Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies at Rutgers University, Newark. She is also Of Counsel to Florio Perrucci Steinhardt & Fader, a politically influential law firm.
