Candidate information:
Email: patrickdiegnan@gmail.com
Phone number: 908-753-7200
Date of Birth: march 19, 1949
Campaign website: Not provided
Social media: Not provided
Education: Graduate Seton Hall University and Seton Hall Law School
Occupation: Lawyer
Party affiliation: Democratic
Public/Party service: Served in New Jersey General Assembly from 2002 through May 2016 and in the New Jersey Senate from that date through the present
Position on good government initiatives:
- Would you support reinstituting the statewide public advocate and making it a directly elected position? I support reinstating the Public Advocate. However I have hesitation about making it an elected position. The last thing we need is politicizing the position.
- Would you support measures to increase voter participation (eg. same-day registration, early voting, vote by mail)? Yes.
- Would you support ethics reforms that would require broader disclosure on financial information and the release of income taxes by candidates for public office, as a means for regulating campaigns and limiting corruption? Although I strongly support transparency, I do not wish to further discourage people from seeking public office. I support reasonable and relevant disclosure.
- Would you support changing the nominating process for members of state-wide Commissions and Boards to have panels of nonpartisan experts nominate candidates, with full public disclosure of the candidates’ credentials, and to have the legislature vote on the nominations? Yes.
- Would you support placing a nonpartisan commission in charge of the legislative redistricting process? Although I favor redistricting that gives a voice to all citizens of New Jersey, we must be very careful to protect those in our urban areas who may not exercise their right to vote and therefore may not be properly counted.
- Would you support public funding of campaigns for all statewide offices, including the legislature? We need to take the influence of money out of politics. However public funding may have the unintended consequence of making incumbency a virtual guarantee of reelection.
- Would you support making the state legislature full-time and prohibiting simultaneous holding of other paid positions? No.
- Would you support reforming New Jersey’s Primary electoral ballots to give all candidates an equal chance of being elected? No. The two party system is the backbone of our democracy.
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