Tireless. Fearless. But above all — friendly and familiar.
That’s how friends and coworkers describe Assemblywoman Joan Christensen, the Democratic incumbent of the 119th Assembly District.
“She’s just very willing to serve,” Diane Dwire, a friend and president of the Onondaga County Democratic Party, said. “I don’t know where she gets energy. I don’t think she ever gets tired.”
Christensen is seeking her 10th term in the Assembly. The 119th District includes parts of the city of Syracuse, as well as the towns of DeWitt, Onondaga, Salina and parts of Syracuse. Voter registration for the district favors Christensen, with 28,347 registered Democrats and 20,437 registered Republicans. Her opponent is Republican Christina Fadden Fitch. The election is Nov. 4.
Christensen did not respond to requests for interviews for this story.
Those who know Christensen describe her as a champion of women’s rights, a devoted environmentalist and someone who works tirelessly.
“She’s always been someone who’s willing to go door-to-door just to get to know the people she’s around,” Dwire of the Onondaga County Democratic party said.
Friends like Dwire say Christensen has always had an interest in politics, an interest that she began cultivating as a student at the Metropolitan Business College of Chicago and later at Syracuse University.
Christensen’s own biography points to her experiences at these schools along with her now-adult-children — Michael, Laura, David and Cara — as reasons for getting into politics.
Christensen was born in 1938 and is 70 years old. She is a longtime resident of Syracuse and lives on the city’s eastside.
While her children were young, Christensen used her business background to help small businesses in the community. She was a member of both the Southside Business Association and the Jamesville Chamber of Commerce. Because of her experience in these positions, in 1984 she became the first woman appointed to the Syracuse Board of Assessment. The Board of Assessment is responsible for determining the value of all properties in the city of Syracuse. These assessments are then used to calculate city, state and county taxes.
After serving on the Board of Assessment for two years, Christensen decided to run for the Syracuse Common Council. In 1985, Christensen won the seat for the Common Council’s 5th District. The 5th District is made up of the city’s eastside.
In 1990, Christensen decided to run for the New York State Assembly. At the time few thought Christensen had any chance of winning. Among those who counted her out was Diane Dwire, now chair of the Onondaga County Democratic Party.
“I think pretty much everyone counted her out,” Dwire said.
In a stunning political upset, Christensen defeated incumbent, William Bush, a Republican from Camillus. At the time, Bush was seeking his seventh term in Albany. The election was one of the 119th Assembly District’s closest in recent history with Christensen winning by just more than 1,000 votes.
Since that time, Christensen has become a regular in the Assembly. She has served on a variety of committees. She is now a member of the Housing, Insurance, Labor, Real Property Taxation and Small Business committees. She also serves as the legislative chair in the Commission on Skills, Development and Career Education.
Christensen has sided with the Democrats on most legislative issues. But she was part of an effort to remove Democratic Speaker of the House Sheldon Silver from his position, a move that ultimately failed. She has co-sponsored several pieces of legislation, though none are major.
Her opponent, Fitch, has fiercely attacked Christensen’s legislative record.
“Usually after 18 years, by now you’d see some major legislation, major committee membership. I haven’t seen that,” Republican Christina Fitch said in an interview with The Post-Standard.
But Christensen points to her strong voting record on women’s issues and environmental issues.
Starting with her work on the Syracuse Common Council, Christensen has focused on program to help woman. While on the Common Council, she served as the president of the Syracuse Commission for Women, a task force set up by the mayor to focus on women’s issues. The issues and reforms Christensen dealt with their have led her to cosponsor legislation to cut taxes for single moms.
In addition to her support of women’s issues, Christensen is also an ardent environmentalist, an interest she cultivated while working in the Environmental Health Office at Syracuse University. This past year she received a rating of 99 out of 100 from the New York State Environmental Advocacy Group. Also, The New York League of Conservation Voters has also endorsed Christensen, citing “her work in the Small Business committee to make going green more economical.”
To some of her constituents, Christensen’s popularity also stems from what they see as her accessibility. One of those is Agatha Lutoborski. Lutoborski, grew up down the street from Christensen and is now a senior at Syracuse University.
When Lutoborksi was ten years old, she wrote a letter to Christensen asking her why the public library in her area wasn’t getting new books or toys. “I basically wanted to know why the library was in such bad shape, and why there weren’t any new books,” Lutoborski said.
Eleven years later, Lutoborski still remembers Christensen’s response: a handwritten letter. “She told me she was working to increase funding for public libraries across the state,” said Lutoborski. “I just thought it was really amazing that she took the time to write back to me.”
On her re-election plans, Christensen’s Web site promises that, if re-elected, she will work to update New York’s “Abandoned Baby” law. The current law gives legal protection to a parents who abandon a baby at designated safe locations like a fire or police station up to five days after the baby’s birth. Christensen would like to extend that time period to 30 days.
Christensen’s campaign manager Mary Ellen Montani says that Christensen is busy campaigning, despite landslide victories in nearly every election since 1990.
The Post-Standard has endorsed Christensen’s opponent, Fitch, in the election. The paper criticized Christensen for lacking an agenda to overhaul state government and credited Fitch with energy and a committee to government reform.
In a recent interview with the newspaper, Christensen pointed to her experience as her most important attribute.
“The more people are familiar with you —and I think I’m well respected by my colleagues —the more people are likely to listen to you and be persuaded because of the experience you have,” Christensen told The Post-Standard. “I can cross the aisle because of my reputation. My word is my bond and people know that.”
(Ashley Pettigrew is a senior with dual majors in newspaper journalism and policy studies.)
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