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Loretta Weinberg ‘Raising Hell’ in NJ film to open in Montclair

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Loretta Weinberg ‘Raising Hell’ in NJ film to open in Montclair

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In her long political career, from the Teaneck Township Council to the state Assembly to Senate Majority Leader, former state Sen. Loretta Weinberg wasn’t afraid to stand up to people she considered bullies.

A new documentary, directed by her daughter, Francine Weinberg Graff, tells the story of her mother’s journey as she investigated the Bridgegate scandal and took on then-Gov. Chris Christie.

The film, “Politics Is a Mother, Raising Hell Is Part of the Job,” will premiere Saturday at the Montclair Film Festival. It will screen again in November in Weinberg’s hometown at the Teaneck International Film Festival.

“My mother has been involved in politics all her life. But when Bridgegate happened, suddenly it was in the national news,” said Weinberg Graff. “It’s such a unique story of this almost 80-year-old woman taking on one of the most powerful governors in the country at the time.”

Weinberg, now 88, retired from the state Senate in 2022. He had represented the 37th District in the Legislature since 2005. He was Senate Majority Leader from 2012 until his retirement and was a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In the Senate, Weinberg worked to improve government transparency and accountability and sought to expand access to public records.

She launched a panel to eliminate sexual harassment in state politics in 2019 and has been a longtime advocate for commuters and their issues with NJ Transit. She gained national attention as co-chair of the legislative committee investigating lane closures on the George Washington Bridge orchestrated by the Christie administration in September 2013, which led to massive traffic jams in Fort Lee in order to exact revenge politics

Weinberg’s record in the Assembly before joining the Senate included sponsoring legislation that lowered the state’s legal blood alcohol level to 0.08 and banned smoking in indoor public places through the Act of New Jersey smoke-free air. She also fought for insurers to pay for at least 48 hours of hospital care for new mothers and their babies.

Weinberg Graff, who lives in California and works as a producer, writer and director of television and unscripted documentaries, started making the film in the late 1990s to show what it’s like to have a mother in politics.

The project was shelved for various reasons until after the Bridgegate scandal, when she picked it up again with a renewed focus on her mother’s role in the investigation.

“The movie really focuses on a small part of my public career: the whole Bridgegate issue,” Weinberg said. The self-described Jewish grandmother said she viewed the events of more than a decade ago as a “cautionary tale.”

“I think Chris Christie really set the stage for Donald Trump. He made bullying fashionable in politics,” he said. “It should be interesting viewing, especially through today’s lens.”

The first time Weinberg sees the full film will be at the Montclair premiere.

“I’ll be watching with my hands over my eyes,” he joked. “I’m very proud of their achievements, but I can’t wait to see my face on the big screen.”

Growing up, Weinberg Graff remembers spending afternoons at the “dusty, dirty” Democratic headquarters while her mother worked.

“My mother was a very different mother. She wasn’t in the PTA, she wasn’t a Girl Scout leader, but she was very involved in local politics,” she said.

The idea for the film began as a response to the cynicism I often felt about politicians.

“Since I was little, I heard people say, ‘all politicians are corrupt,’ and I thought, ‘but my mother is not corrupt,'” she said. “People don’t know how much families have to sacrifice for the public. If you’re really a politician because of what you stand for, you won’t get rich, you might not even be that powerful, but you’ll end up making changes.”

Weinberg was nearly 70 years old when she was elected to the state Senate. She was 75 when she ran for lieutenant governor with Gov. Jon Corzine in his failed re-election bid against Christie, and nearly 80, an age when many women feel invisible, when she was at her most powerful and oversaw the Bridgegate investigation.

“I want women to know that you are not invisible, that you have value and if you are called to do something, you should do it because the world needs you so much,” said Weinberg Graff.

Weinberg, who has said she wants her legacy to be “a whole generation of issues” following her into politics, said she hopes people come away from the film with the understanding that “a very average person like me you might end up choosing to try and make a difference and go into public life, and under the right circumstances you can stand up to bullies, I hope it’s a bit of an inspiration, especially for women.

“Politics Is a Mother, Raising Hell Is Part of the Job” will be screened at noon Saturday at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair as part of the Montclair Film Festival and Sunday, November 10 at 7 p.m. at Temple Emeth in Teaneck as apart from the Teaneck International Film Festival.

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