Laura Fortgang

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Laura Fortgang

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2019

Education

Bachelor's

Boston University

Personal

Profession

Executive coach

Contact

Personal website

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Laura Fortgang (Democratic Party) ran for election to the New Jersey General Assembly to represent District 26. Fortgang lost in the general election on November 5, 2019.

Fortgang completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.

Fortganag was a 2017 Democratic candidate for District 26 of the New Jersey General Assembly.

Biography

Fortgang earned a degree in communications from Boston University. Her professional experience includes working as an executive coach, a best-selling author, a contributing editor at Redbook Magazine, and a blogger for Huffington Post. She also founded the small business InterCoach, Inc. and is a founding member of the International Coach Federation.

Elections

2019

See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2019

General election

General election for New Jersey General Assembly District 26 (2 seats)

Incumbent BettyLou DeCroce and incumbent Jay Webber defeated Christine Clarke and Laura Fortgang in the general election for New Jersey General Assembly District 26 on November 5, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		BettyLou DeCroce (R)	28.4	25,460
✔		Jay Webber (R)	28.1	25,233
		Christine Clarke (D)	21.8	19,602
		Laura Fortgang (D)	21.7	19,507

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 89,802
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 26 (2 seats)

Laura Fortgang and Christine Clarke advanced from the Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 26 on June 4, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Laura Fortgang	50.2	4,420
✔		Christine Clarke	49.8	4,386

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,806
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 26 (2 seats)

Incumbent Jay Webber and incumbent BettyLou DeCroce advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 26 on June 4, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jay Webber	51.7	9,772
✔		BettyLou DeCroce	48.3	9,143

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 18,915
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2017

See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2017

General election

Elections for the New Jersey General Assembly took place in 2017. All 80 seats were up for election. State assembly members are elected to two-year terms. The general election took place on November 7, 2017. A primary election took place on June 6, 2017. The filing deadline for the primary election was April 3, 2017. Legislative districts in the New Jersey General Assembly are multi-member districts, with two representatives in each district. In Democratic and Republican primary elections, the top two candidates move forward to the general election, and the top two candidates in the general election are declared the winners. Incumbent Jay Webber (R) and incumbent BettyLou DeCroce (R) defeated Joseph Raich (D) and William Edge (D) in the New Jersey General Assembly District 26 general election.

New Jersey General Assembly, District 26 General Election, 2017
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Jay Webber Incumbent	28.23%	31,810
	Republican	BettyLou DeCroce Incumbent	28.19%	31,766
	Democratic	Joseph Raich	21.95%	24,732
	Democratic	William Edge	21.62%	24,362
Total Votes				112,670
Source: New Jersey Department of State

Democratic primary election

William Edge and Joseph Raich defeated Laura Fortgang in the New Jersey General Assembly District 26 Democratic primary election.

New Jersey General Assembly, District 26 Democratic Primary, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
William Edge	42.87%	6,669
Joseph Raich	38.91%	6,054
Laura Fortgang	18.22%	2,835
Total Votes		15,558
Source: New Jersey Department of State

Republican primary election

Incumbent Jay Webber and incumbent BettyLou DeCroce defeated William Lyon and John Cesaro in the New Jersey General Assembly District 26 Republican primary election.

New Jersey General Assembly, District 26 Republican Primary, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Jay Webber Incumbent	32.95%	8,574
BettyLou DeCroce Incumbent	27.82%	7,239
William Lyon	20.56%	5,350
John Cesaro	18.66%	4,856
Total Votes		26,019
Source: New Jersey Department of State

Campaign themes

2019

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Laura Fortgang completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Fortgang's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

What would be your top three priorities, if elected?

1. Easing the tax burden on New Jersey residents who are the highest taxed in the nation
1. Easing the tax burden on New Jersey residents who are the highest taxed in the nation
2. Strengthening our excellent public school system including:
necessary support for our teachers and staff,
expanding the options for the very best of our Vo-Tech programs to prepare more New Jersey kids for the 21st Century job market,
expanding opportunities for reduced and debt free college in New Jersey,
making our state supported programs for special education far more comprehensive and smarter to ease the burden on school districts and serve the needs of all of our students.
3. Ensuring that every single person in New Jersey has access to robust affordable healthcare. By expanding the pool, creating a state exchange, we will greatly stabilize the costs for families, businesses and government. This will in turn stabilize school budgets and property taxes which are so greatly tied to school budgets.
3. Ensuring that every single person in New Jersey has access to robust affordable healthcare. By expanding the pool, creating a state exchange, we will greatly stabilize the costs for families, businesses and government. This will in turn stabilize school budgets and property taxes which are so greatly tied to school budgets.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I have a son with chronic medical condition who needs daily medication and regular treatments, many of which are not covered by insurance. My family, like so many in our district, lives the healthcare nightmare every day. In a state with world class hospitals and companies that are discovering cures for cancer, it's unacceptable that many people have to decide between paying for their medications or putting food on the table, or that black women here are three times more likely than white women to die from complications due to pregnancy. Creating our own Healthcare exchange will go a long way towards expanding opportunities and options for New Jersey families and stabilizing costs for everyone.

No matter what happens in Washington, New Jersey must do better to protect our healthcare and expand coverage and access to healthcare to everyone.
Protect essential coverage like pre-existing conditions and allowing adult children to stay on their parents plans.
Protect pre-natal and all reproductive healthcare coverage.
Require coverage of mental health and addiction treatment.
Lower the cost of prescription drugs and expand coverage for medications our doctors prescribe.
Eliminate the terrible disparities in access and outcomes for residents based on income, geography and race.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Elected officials are public servants, so simply put we need always to be acting to further the interests of our constituents, to make their lives better. That means having integrity and humility, being honest with everyone, being a great listener, approachable and accessible. But it also means being discerning, having the confidence to make tough decisions after weighing all the information. A public servant needs to be smart about the consequences intended and otherwise of any policy or inaction and be able to make relationships that further common goals.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Our state government in Trenton is too often gridlocked by factions and partisanship. Too often individual and special interests are put ahead of the common interests of New Jersey families. I will bring my skill and energy to Trenton to find solutions that work for everyone. For 24 years I've done just this working with large organizations, like NASA, corporations like Novartis, and many small businesses as an executive coach and a consultant. I've helped re-establish effective communication with groups that have grown dysfunctional to find solutions hiding in plain sight, bringing everyone on board.

I've worked a lifetime on my communication skills. I'm an award winning author, a sought-after public speaker on Good Morning America, Oprah, and other national media outlets. I have a Ted Talk with more than a million views. I won't be intimidated by the professional politicians in Trenton and will be able to effectively represent the best interests of all people in the district.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

The core responsibility of a member of the General Assembly is to represent the needs and concerns of her constituents, to work every day to make living in New Jersey more affordable, to improve the quality of their lives. That means having long term vision for rebuilding out economy, preserving our resources, investing in our strengths. And it means working to strengthen the institutions of our state government through transparency and accessibility. No public servant should be able to put personal interests above those of his constituents or use the position of trust for self gain.

What do you perceive to be your state’s greatest challenges over the next decade?

New Jersey is now in a crisis of affordability and taxpayers are bearing the burden in order to make up for enormous losses.

The cost of healthcare is debilitating for families, government and organizations and access to good healthcare is still not universal in New Jersey. Healthcare costs is the fastest growing item in our school budgets year over year which negatively impacts our property taxes. We need to support our schools and teachers so we don't drain valuable talent, while stabilizing costs and increasing access. Our health, our personal finances, and the strength of New Jersey’s schools and communities depend on us getting this right.

Our transportation and infrastructure are ancient and crumbling. We can't expect to attract or keep businesses when we fail to move people around efficiently and safely.

We’ve ignored the impact of global warming on our economy as well as on our communities. We pay billions in storm and flood damage cleanup without investing in solutions that will save us money and heartache down the road.

I know we can do better. I’m running for Assembly to help strengthen New Jersey, so it will continue to be a healthy place for families in every stage to live and thrive.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2017

Fortgang's campaign website highlighted the following issues:

“	Education We need an alternative to PARCC testing that will be designed with educator input. PARCC was promptly dropped by most states. NJ is one of six states still using it. Let’s give teachers back their time to teach the subjects vs. teaching the test. Many of our current teachers want to leave the field while young talent that could be the future of education don’t want to enter it. I’ll fight vouchers as they stand now and work towards fairer resolutions to improve the quality of education for everyone, not just some. A system of charter and private schools leaves education potentially in the hands of for-profit companies which have not proven to be the ultimate authorities on good education. I will support and develop legislation that will reform education to prepare today’s students for the future, not yesteryear’s. Training in skilled trades and entrepreneurship are not emphasized enough, and should be part of high school education. There is more than ONE path to what society considers success, and we need to guide young people on the path that works for them. My work for 25 years has been with unhappy workers and employees. I understand how teen guidance got them where they are today. Not everyone needs to go to college and not everyone who goes to college is guaranteed a job. We need to develop options that work. Healthcare I will work to protect Medicare and Medicaid and protect the good parts of the ACA in NJ and support programs that help our citizens receive quality and appropriate care, medication and humane treatment when they are at risk or suffering. I will oppose policies that put profits ahead of people. Healthcare decisions should be made between patients and doctors, not by insurance companies or government bureaucrats. I stand with women to preserve our reproductive rights. I cannot and will not support legislation that puts women’s health at risk. I will support expansion of the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act and Medical Marijuana use for minors. This is an issue that hits home. I have friends in other states whose children had cancer and got pain relief from safe medical marijuana. I have a child with a seizure disorder who would benefit from non-THC (the element that provides a high) form of cannabis. I cannot get this treatment for my child because New Jersey’s medical marijuana laws make it extremely difficult to get different forms of medical marijuana, even if you qualify and carry a medical marijuana card. Cannabinoids are a proven medicine that are used safely by patients across the country every day. Work Issues It is 2017. Why are we still talking about equal pay? Women in NJ still make 80 cents to the dollar a male worker makes for the same work. Women of color fare even worse. That is unacceptable. Women fight in wars, women run multi-billion dollar companies, women lead in government. I stand on the side of equal pay for equal work no matter what industry you are in. We need to RAISE the minimum wage. Businesses are more likely to show greater profits when their employees are well compensated. It improves morale, reduces sick days, increases productivity and makes people care about their jobs. It’s de-motivating to show up to work in a job that can’t cover your basic living expenses much less provide an opportunity to improve one’s circumstances. I am PRO-Union. As part of the Actors Equity union in my twenties, I saw close-up how the union protected its members from unfair and exploitative working conditions, and how necessary those protections were. I also saw incidents of the union rules going too far. I believe in the protections a union provides, and am proud to still be a member of Actors Equity. I believe we can find common ground and common sense solutions for labor. Environment The Highlands Act, which has been in place for seven years, is now in danger. The measure protected the open space from development and sprawl while protecting the water supply to 5.4 million residents. These kinds of protections are vitally important to ensuring the health and well being of our citizens and our environment. I will also vote NO to the Pilgrim Pipeline. I will develop and support legislation for renewable energy and green building and construction. What we do today to protect our natural resources will pay off in spades for generations to come in terms of our health and safety, reducing the need for emergency measures in case of spills and treatment of illness brought on my environmental factors. I’m committed to keeping our water and food sources free of poisons and potential hazards. Without proper oversight, corporations’ short-term goals of convenience and profits will always trump what’s right for people and the long-term health of the environment. I will fight for sensible regulation that supports people over profit. Transparency and Accountability NJ has some of the highest rates for everything that touches our lives. Transportation, property taxes, and auto insurance are just a few examples. Let’s show people where their money goes. I want transparency in how tax dollars are used and what industries are influencing our representatives. I will support legislation that puts truth over ‘spin’. The contentious 23-cent gas tax is a platform discussion in this race for state assembly . My issue with this tax isn’t paying it; it’s not knowing where the money is going. If I knew the revenue was being used to fund transportation construction projects, as it was intended, I would pay it gladly. I will work to cut waste and demand transparency in government contracts I’m all for lowering taxes. Ferreting out the waste and corruption in New Jersey will help balance the budget and allow an opportunity for relief to taxpayers. New Jerseyans deserve better than our national reputation for political corruption. We need campaign finance reform in NJ. I’ll work to see NJ develop a fair and democratic system that could become a national model.	”
—Laura Fortgang

See also

2019 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

The Daily Brew The Weekly Brew The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Hall Pass Number of the Day Robe & Gavel Union Station

External links

Suggest a link

• Search Google News for this topic
• Official campaign website
• Laura Fortgang on Facebook
• Laura Fortgang on Twitter
• New Jersey Legislature website

Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the New Jersey General Assembly

Leadership

Speaker of the House:Craig Coughlin

Representatives

District 1

Antwan McClellan (R)

Erik Simonsen (R)

District 2

Don Guardian (R)

Claire Swift (R)

District 3

Dave Bailey (D)

Heather Simmons (D)

District 4

Dan Hutchison (D)

Cody Miller (D)

District 5

William Moen (D)

William Spearman (D)

District 6

Louis Greenwald (D)

Pamela Lampitt (D)

District 7

Herbert Conaway (D)

Carol Murphy (D)

District 8

Andrea Katz (D)

Michael Torrissi (R)

District 9

Gregory Myhre (R)

Brian Rumpf (R)

District 10

Paul Kanitra (R)

Gregory McGuckin (R)

District 11

Margie Donlon (D)

Luanne Peterpaul (D)

District 12

Robert Clifton (R)

Alex Sauickie (R)

District 13

Victoria Flynn (R)

Gerard Scharfenberger (R)

District 14

Wayne DeAngelo (D)

Tennille McCoy (D)

District 15

Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D)

Anthony Verrelli (D)

District 16

Mitchelle Drulis (D)

Roy Freiman (D)

District 17

Joseph Danielsen (D)

Kevin Egan (D)

District 18

Robert Karabinchak (D)

Sterley Stanley (D)

District 19

Craig Coughlin (D)

Yvonne Lopez (D)

District 20

Reginald Atkins (D)

Annette Quijano (D)

District 21

Michele Matsikoudis (R)

Nancy Muñoz (R)

District 22

Linda Carter (D)

James Kennedy (D)

District 23

John DiMaio (R)

Erik Peterson (R)

District 24

Dawn Fantasia (R)

Michael Inganamort (R)

District 25

Christian Barranco (R)

Aura Dunn (R)

District 26

Brian Bergen (R)

Jay Webber (R)

District 27

Rosy Bagolie (D)

Alixon Collazos-Gill (D)

District 28

Garnet Hall (D)

Cleopatra Tucker (D)

District 29

Eliana Marin (D)

Shanique Speight (D)

District 30

Sean Kean (R)

Avi Schnall (D)

District 31

William Sampson (D)

Barbara Stamato (D)

District 32

John Allen (D)

Jessica Ramirez (D)

District 33

Julio Marenco (D)

Gabriel Rodriguez (D)

District 34

Carmen Morales (D)

Michael Venezia (D)

District 35

Shavonda Sumter (D)

Benjie Wimberly (D)

District 36

Clinton Calabrese (D)

Gary Schaer (D)

District 37

Shama Haider (D)

Ellen Park (D)

District 38

Lisa Swain (D)

Chris Tully (D)

District 39

Robert Auth (R)

John Azzariti (R)

District 40

Al Barlas (R)

Christopher DePhillips (R)

Democratic Party (52)

Republican Party (28)