Former Senator Bernie Kenny of Hoboken in this edition of Politics, Pubs, Parades, + the Parish talks about his family coming to America, settling in Hudson, Jersey City, his service in the United States Navy, the impact of his father’s legal troubles, and getting into the prosecutor's office.

To access the podcast, please go HERE.

One of New Jersey's most respected former lawmakers, Kenny had a distinguished career in elected office, serving in the General Assembly from 1987 to 1993 and in the state senate from 1993 to 2008. He served as senate majority leader from 2002 to 2008.

Hosted by Stacy McCormack, Politics, Pubs, Parades, + the Parish is a series of interviews with people you most likely know - many of them in New Jersey politics - telling stories that seem to get better with age.

This is the first in a series of four episodes featuring Senator Kenny. InsiderNJ is honored to run them for four consecutive weeks, starting with the first episode today.

Please look for them each Monday morning.

A friend of InsiderNJ, Senator Kenny writes columns for the site, including this one on President's Day.

Here is an excerpt from that piece:

This virulent doctrine of supremacy means that we are not “One” out of many and that all men are not "created equal." It is the very opposite of that which we honor and hold sacred.

It is our hopeful prayer that the future of America will be guided by these sacred truths but that prayer will be realized only if our belief in them is a matter of life and death to us.

On March 4 ,1861, Abraham Lincoln, facing the secession of Southern states on account of slavery, tried to appeal to his countrymen and save the Union. He did not succeed but his words are timeless and remain for us a solemn prayer:

“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched by the better angels of our nature."

There is an urgency in this moment.

It is 2026.