[9] She then worked as a senior executive assistant to State Treasurer Catherine Baker Knoll from 1989 until 1992, when she became a business representative for the United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 1776.

[12] During the campaign, she ran on a platform of increased gun control, better day care, racial and ethnic harmony, more jobs, and affordable housing.

[12] She defeated Harvey Rice, a lawyer supported by Mayor Ed Rendell and party chairman Bob Brady, in the Democratic primary.

[9] During the Labor Day weekend of 2003, Tartaglione was severely injured when she fell on the deck of a small powerboat while off the Jersey Shore.

After a number of surgeries and intense physical therapy, Tartaglione was able to walk for the first time in seven years to her seat in the Senate chambers at an October 2010 ceremony before her colleagues and well-wishers.