Diane Allen

Allen grew up in Moorestown, New Jersey and graduated as the valedictorian of the Moorestown High School class of 1966. In 1969, Allen was crowned Miss Burlington County. Allen received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Bucknell University. In 1973, Allen won a national hang gliding competition. ==Broadcasting career==

Allen began her broadcast news career in 1970 with WJJZ, an AM radio station based in Mount Holly, New Jersey. In 1989, she joined WCAU, the then-CBS (now NBC) affiliate in Philadelphia, and remained there until 1994. In 2000, Allen briefly served as an interim anchor for CN8 while another anchorwoman was on vacation. This prompted criticism from Senate Minority Leader Richard Codey, who criticized her for conducting her duties as an officeholder while reporting on politics. ==Political career==

Allen first sought elective office in the 1970s when she ran for the Board of Education of the Moorestown Township Public Schools. New Jersey Assembly 1995 election Allen was recruited to state politics by Burlington County Republican chair Glenn Paulsen, who asked her to run for Assembly in 1995 to set up a 1997 campaign for State Senate. The $1.1 million spent in the 1995 Assembly race made it the first in New Jersey to cross the $1 million spending mark. New Jersey Senate Elections In 1997, Allen announced her campaign for Senate as expected. Despite her district's solid Democratic lean—during her entire twenty-year tenure, her district never elected one of her Republican running mates to the Assembly—Allen consistently won re-election with little trouble. In 2003, Allen defeated Diane F. Gabriel with 60% of the vote. In 2007, Allen defeated Rich Dennison of Florence with 56% of the vote. In 2011, Allen defeated a primary challenge from Carol Lokan-Moore with 90% of the vote and won the general election against Gail Cook with 57%. In 2013, Allen defeated Gary Catrambone with 60% of the vote. Tenure Throughout her career in the Senate, Allen was an advocate for stricter enforcement of discrimination and workplace harassment restrictions. During her final year in office, Allen worked to override Governor Chris Christie's veto of an equal pay law. Three months after she left office, new governor Phil Murphy signed the Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act, which he said, "cement[ed Allen's] legacy as a lawmaker who worked across the aisle to do the right things for our state.” After leaving office, Allen founded a political action committee dedicated to encouraging women to run for public office on a non-partisan basis. She carried every county in South Jersey except for Gloucester, home of third-place finisher State Senator John J. Matheussen, and Ocean. However, she announced on November 29, 2007 that she would not run for the seat, citing factionalism in the Burlington County Republican Party. In 2009, Allen was a leading candidate to join Chris Christie's ticket as the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor. Christie ultimately chose Monmouth County Sheriff Kim Guadagno instead. Election results ==Personal life==

, Allen and her husband, Sam, live in Edgewater Park Township. They have two children. Her husband is the great-grandson of Samuel Leeds Allen, the inventor of the Flexible Flyer sled. She is a Quaker. Though doctors had initially thought that treatment would require removal of her tongue and that she would be unable to speak normally, surgery performed in 2010 did not greatly impair her speech, and she has since undergone radiation and laser treatments. ==References==