Barbara Buono DEMDemocrat

Barbara A. Buono (born July 28, 1953) is an American politician who served in the New Jersey Senate from 2002 to 2014, where she represented the 18th Legislative District. She served from 2010 to 2012 as the Majority Leader in the Senate, succeeding Stephen Sweeney, and was succeeded by Loretta Weinberg. She is a member of the Democratic Party and was the Democratic nominee for Governor of New Jersey in the 2013 general election, which she lost to Republican incumbent Chris Christie.Before entering the Senate, Buono served in the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature, the General Assembly, from 1994 to 2002, where she served as the Minority Parliamentarian from 1996 to 1998. In the Assembly, Buono became the ranking Democrat on the Assembly Budget Committee. She was Democratic Conference Chair from 2004 to 2007.