Former Caldwell Council president to run for Assembly in LD-40

Jeff Gates, a former president of the Caldwell Council, said he will file to run for Assembly as a Democrat in the 40th legislative district.

Republican Assemblymen Al Barlas (R-Cedar Grove) and Christopher DePhillips (R-Wyckoff) currently represent the district. The other Democrat to file in the district is former Woodland Park Councilman Ron Arnau, who is running on Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop’s slate.

Gates, a realtor, said he would focus on housing prices if elected.

“As a real estate agent, one of the important things to me is housing costs — I see on a daily basis people that want to buy houses and can’t because of the inventory shortage — and finding ways to make it more reasonable,” Gates told the New Jersey Globe.

The 40th district, which has never elected a Democrat, includes parts of Bergen, Essex, and Passaic counties.

Gates served as the president of his local chapter of Kiwanis, a service group, and last year was the treasurer of Kiwanis’ state chapter. Gates lost re-election to the Caldwell Council in 2022.

The Democrat said he heard a couple of weeks ago that there was only one Democrat in the race and decided to run shortly thereafter.

“When it came to my attention that we needed another candidate, I wanted to make sure that there were no blank spots in the ballot, and I could be a voice of the party,” Gates said.

This article was updated to correct Gates’ previous positions at Kiwanis.