New Jersey Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli has chosen former state Senator and one-time Philadelphia TV news anchor Diane Allen to be his running mate.
Ciattarelli, a former Assembly member, is set to officially name Allen as his pick for lieutenant governor on Wednesday. Campaign spokesperson Stami Williams confirmed the selection in an email.
Ciattarelli faces first-term Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy in the November election.
The choice of Allen, who was known as a moderate during her time in the Legislature, comes after a bruising — but not close — primary in which Ciattarelli fended off rivals who claimed to be political heirs of Donald Trump.
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Allen served in the Assembly beginning in 1996 before being elected to the state Senate in 1997. She served there, representing parts of Burlington County, until 2017.
She was a news anchor in the 1970s through the 1990s on Philadelphia broadcast TV, with stints on KYW and WCAU.
She is known as a campaigner against gender and age discrimination, having brought a complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, arguing that she got removed as an 11 p.m. anchor in favor of someone younger and that she was paid less than her male counterparts.
Politics
In 2018, Murphy signed a bill named after Allen that strengthened the state's law against discrimination and aimed at reducing disparity based on gender. The law lets those seeking damages to receive back pay for up to six years, instead of the two years previously permitted. The measure also permits discriminated-against workers to get triple damages.
Polls have shown Murphy with a lead over Ciattarelli.
No Democrat has won reelection in over four decades in New Jersey.
Murphy's running mate is current Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver.
If Ciattarelli and Allen win in November, she would be just the third lieutenant governor in state history. The post was created in time for the 2009 election.
