“The Big Apple” is a city of a million opportunities. Thousands, if not millions, of Americans dream of living and working in this city. For them, it is an unattainable blue dream. But there are also those who run away from it. Their destiny turns in such a way that they leave their native land and go to work for the benefit of another city or even state. Politics is exactly the path that can lead a person to distant lands. Just the same fate befell James Florio. Find out more at our website brooklyn-yes.com.
CHILDHOOD IN BROOKLYN
Florio was born in 1937. His childhood years were spent in the noisy and multi-ethnic streets of Brooklyn. His first school years were spent in the elementary school of his native borough, but he attended high school in the neighboring state of New Jersey. Immediately after school, the future politician went to the army. Florio served in the US Navy and was in the reserve from 1958 to 1975. In the early 60s, Florio returned to New York, where he entered Columbia University. But he nevertheless returned to study law in New Jersey at Rutgers School of Law.
At the age of 30, Florio was already working as a deputy prosecutor in the city of Camden in New Jersey. This was a good start of his career, which led him to the position of general counsel for three New Jersey boroughs.
In these positions, Florio proved himself in the best light. It was from this that his political career began. In 1969, he was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly. He performed his work faithfully for five years.
THE WAY TOWARDS THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
In 1972, Florio tried to become a member of the US House of Representatives from New Jersey. He successfully passed the primary round of elections as a representative of the Democratic Party. But at this point success turned away from him, because he lost to Republican John Hunt in the second round. 5.5% of the votes fell short of Florio’s victory. A significant gap did not shake his faith in himself.
From this began not only Florio’s path to big politics, but also his confrontation with Hunt. In 1974, he tried his hand again, and again he lost to Hunt in the second round. This time the margin was much larger — 19%. This indicated a drop in Florio’s rating. But he did not give up. Two consecutive losses did not dampen his desire to become a part of the Congress. After these setbacks, he won seven consecutive elections for New Jersey’s 1st congressional district, which is held every two years. Until 1990, he was a member of the US House of Representatives.
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Florio always had considerable ambitions. Work in Congress was not enough for him. In 1977, for the first time, he decided to try himself in the elections for the post of governor of New Jersey from the Democratic Party. The old story repeated again. Florio won the first stage of the election, but lost in the second round. His opponent surpassed him by only 0.08%. Again it was a Republican, although this time the margin was tiny.
But in 1989, success was on his side and he received the coveted post of a governor. But unfortunately, he worked for only one term of governorship, losing to the Republican Christine Todd Whitman. Again the gap was tiny, only 1%.
Florio may have been a governor for only 4 years, but the citizens of New Jersey managed to remember him. His main change affected people with high fortunes. He launched a program to increase state taxes. As a result, the rich began to pay twice as much tax. But, unfortunately, this is exactly what led to Florio’s defeat in the next election.
The fact is that rich Americans often become patrons of some politicians and sponsors of their election campaigns. For this, politicians secretly promise to lobby their interests. The rich were not satisfied with the tax increase, and this prevented Florio from becoming governor again.
Since 1994, Florio has ceased his political career and became a teacher at his native Rutgers University. There he taught public policy. He also led a column in which he highlighted the problems of society.
Unfortunately, James Florio passed away in 2022.