Peter Biondi began missing sessions after his cancer was diagnosed a year ago and he started receiving chemotherapy treatment
Gov. Chris Christie, left, shakes hands with Assemblyman Peter Biondi in this August file photo. Somerset County Democrats recently released campaign literature attacking Biondi for missing votes, though party officials claim they didn't realize the assemblyman was receiving cancer treatments.TRENTON — Voters in Central Jersey’s 16th Legislative District will find campaign literature in their mailboxes this week, courtesy of Somerset County Democrats, highlighting hundreds of actions missed by their lawmakers in Trenton.
"These Republicans missed almost 400 important votes, hurting the middle-class families they were supposed to be representing," reads one mailer, which takes aim at state Sen. Christopher "Kip" Bateman (R-Somerset) and Assemblyman Peter Biondi (R-Somerset).
What they won’t find is an explanation why. It was Biondi who missed the vast majority of those votes. His excuse: He was battling cancer.
"It’s kind of sad, if you ask me," said Biondi, 69, who finished chemotherapy treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma four months ago. "It’s in remission. These guys are a little late getting their stuff."
Biondi, who has served in the Assembly almost 14 years, began missing sessions after his cancer was diagnosed a year ago and he started receiving chemotherapy treatment, which weakens the immune system.
"It lowered my white blood cell count," he said. "You’ve got to be careful because it goes down, you get sick."
Biondi did not discuss his condition publicly, and only disclosed the situation on Monday, when a Courier-News reporter asked him about his absences. But it was well known in Trenton political circles that he was fighting a serious illness.
And it was noticed that he was the only Assembly member absent for the hotly contested vote in June to overhaul public workers’ pension and health benefits.
Still, the Somerset County Democratic chairwoman, Peg Schaffer, said she had "no idea."
"It was being kept under wraps," she said. "I’m not down in Trenton. I obviously have concern for him and his family and I’m happy that he’s got it under control. If, in fact, he’s ill, I think the electorate has a right to know. And if we had known, we would have taken a different approach."
Schaffer said she originally planned five different mailings highlighting the voting records of the two lawmakers, but withdrew the last three after Biondi publicly disclosed his illness. Two had already been sent.
"We’re going to change the focus," she said.
Bateman, who is the main target of the literature, missed 21 committee votes and 31 Assembly votes, according to legislative records.
"I think I missed one committee day and possibly one session," he said. "But that’s out of thousands of bills."
Bateman said news of Biondi’s condition began dribbling out after his absence from the benefits vote. "That’s when people heard about it," he said.
He said Gov. Chris Christie happened to be with Assembly Republicans that day and asked the members to pray for Biondi.
Since then, Bateman said, he has heard Democratic candidates talking about Biondi’s condition.
"There’s no question in my mind (Schaffer) knew," he said. "I think it’s unconscionable she raised that issue. I really do."