Leticia Fraga To Run For Princeton Council In 2017

PRINCETON, NJ — Democrat Leticia Fraga will once again run for Princeton Council this year.

Fraga announced her intentions to run on Tuesday.

Fraga finished third in last year’s Democratic Primary, collecting 2,237 votes. Four candidates ran in the primary for the nomination to two open seats. Just 47 votes separated her from Tim Quinn.

Jenny Crumiller and Tim Quinn won the primary, and ran unopposed in November’s general elections.

“I am running for Council so that every person who lives in Princeton can feel they are represented," Fraga said. “I’ll fight for fair and just policies, responsible budgets, and lasting solutions to our housing affordability crisis. After many years of working as an advocate from the outside in, I am eager to join the ranks of your elected leaders. As an elected official, I will continue to listen openly to people’s concerns and work with colleagues to find solutions that ensure Princeton is a place that thrives economically and maintains its small town feel.“

As Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund (LALDEF), Fraga runs the Community ID program (a national model), advocates for unaccompanied refugees in the public schools, and recently oversaw a highly successful leadership transition.

Fraga’s other commitments include serving as a member of the Board of Trustees of Princeton Community Housing, the Princeton YWCA, and the Princeton "Send Hunger Packing" initiative. Ms. Fraga previously served for five years as Vice Chair of Princeton’s Human Services Commission.

She was recently appointed by Mayor Liz Lempert to serve on Princeton’s new Civil Rights Commission. Fraga and her colleagues worked hard to re-establish the commission over the last two years. It was reestablished by council via ordinance in October, and Fraga was appointed to the commission at Princeton's reorganization meeting.

“In my career as a civil rights specialist and years of community activism, I have honed my core values of hard work and justice,” Fraga said. “As a representative of the people to the Council, I will take on tough issues and work for community-based solutions that enhance Princeton by building on its many strengths.”

Through her years of work in the community, Fraga says she has come to believe that residents are most concerned about affordability, sustainability and quality of life.

Fraga says that if she is elected, she will work hard to ensure that Princeton stays a strong and safe community.

"With dramatic uncertainty at the federal level, Princeton must commit anew to the values of openness, inclusion, affordability and evidence-based solutions to the complex issues that we confront," Fraga said.

Originally from Mexico, Fraga grew up in Washington State.

“My parents spent their lives working hard and honestly to provide a better life for my siblings and me," Fraga said. "These same values of hard work and integrity have guided my own life.”

She moved to Princeton in 1999 with her husband Steven Nadler, an Executive at Bristol Myers Squibb. They have 12 year-old twins who attend John Witherspoon Middle School. Fraga is also the mother of three grown children and the grandmother of seven.