Linda R. Greenstein (born June 7, 1950) is an American attorney and politician who has served since 2010 as a member of the New Jersey Senate representing the 14th legislative district.[1] She previously served in the General Assembly from 2000 to 2010.
She was a Clinical Associate Professor at the Seton Hall University School of Law, where she supervised the Disability Law Clinic. She has served as a Deputy Attorney General in Trenton and as an Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia.
In the 1999 Assembly election, Republican incumbents Paul Kramer and Barbara Wright were narrowly defeated by Democrats Greenstein and Gary Guear, with the incumbents losing votes in Hamilton Township, where Democrat Glen Gilmore won the race for mayor. The two gains were among the three Republicans seats Democrats picked up in the Assembly in the 1999 elections, though the Republicans retained their majority.[4] She served in the Assembly for five terms from 2000 through 2010. She was the Assembly's Assistant Majority Leader from 2002, and the Deputy Speaker from 2006 to 2010. Greenstein served in the Assembly on the Judiciary Committee (as Chair) and the Health and Senior Services Committee.[citation needed] Greenstein was reelected in 2007 while participating in the New Jersey Clean Elections public funding program.[citation needed] During this campaign, Greenstein faced radio attack ads from a national third-party conservative group with ties to President George W. Bush.[5]
In the 2010 special Senate election to fill the remainder of Bill Baroni's term, Greenstein ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. She defeated appointed incumbent Senator Tom Goodwin, one of her opponents from the 2009 Assembly race.[9]
In 2011, Greenstein was re-elected over challenger Richard Kanka, father of murder victim Megan Kanka and driver behind Megan's Law.[10]
In 2013, Greenstein faced former State Senator Peter Inverso, who represented the district from 1992 to 2008. Greenstein was re-elected to a second full term by 1,484 votes, the closest Senate margin in New Jersey that year.[11]
In 2017, her opponent was Hamilton Township Councilwoman Ileana Schirmer.[12] Greenstein defeated Schirmer 56.3% to 43.7%.[13]
Of the four counties in the district, she only received the county committee endorsement from her home county of Middlesex.[17] After Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman received the Mercer County endorsement on March 22, Greenstein was recorded telling local county Democratic leaders, "I hate everybody in here. Everybody in here is my enemy – except for the people from Hamilton. The rest of you are my enemies." Her campaign responded to the leak with a statement saying, "This thinly veiled attempt at intimidation from unnamed party bosses unfortunately reeks of the kind of sexism successful women have had to contend with throughout history." Mercer County Democratic Party chairwoman Elizabeth Maher Muoio refuted this claim, saying "Clearly, the results were not what she had hoped for, but to blame them on sexism or on a closed process is deceptive, untrue and insulting."[18]
She is a resident of Plainsboro Township, and had one son Evan, with her husband Michael Greenstein.[20][21] Michael Greenstein died on November 1, 2017.[22]
Electoral history
United States House of Representatives
2014 Democratic Primary - United States House of Representatives 12th District[23]
^Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey: 2004 Edition, p. 265. Lawyers Diary and Manual, LLC., 2004. ISBN9781577411871. Accessed September 25, 2019. "Assemblywoman Greenstein was born June 7, 1950, in Brooklyn, N.Y. She attended public elementary school in Brooklyn and graduated from Andrew Jackson High School in Queens, N.Y."
