Onyema defeats Tucker to win Union County Dem endorsement; Sherrill wins Union County

Union County Democrats endorsed incumbent Garnet Hall (D-Maplewood) and Chigozie Onyema for State Assembly in the 28th district, passing over nine-term incumbent Cleopatra Tucker (D-Newark) in a vote of their screening committee tonight.

While county lines are gone, replaced by office block ballots, the endorsement of Onyema, the Newark West Ward Democratic municipal chairman, is bad news for Tucker.  The one Union County municipality in the Essex-based district, Hillside, produced a 1,146-vote plurality for Tucker in her 2023 primary against former Maplewood Mayor Frank McGehee; Hillside made up 16% of Tucker’s total vote.

Essex County will vote to endorse in the Assembly race at its convention on Saturday.  Onyema was the top vote-getter at their screening committee meeting earlier this month.

The Union County screening committee also voted to endorse Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) for governor after an interview process that all candidates but Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop participated in.

Sherrill received 12 votes, followed by Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (4), former Senate President Steve Sweeny (3), and New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller (1).

“We wanted to wait until every candidate had every opportunity to meet with our committee members and Chairs before we scheduled this very important vote. I believe it is emblematic of the transparency in our process and the importance of Union County, in both the primary and general elections, that we were one of the only counties to have five candidates seek our endorsement,” said Senate President Nicholas Scutari, the Union County Democratic chairman.  “As the process played out, congresswoman Sherrill became the candidate that most of our committee supported to lead the ticket this June and beyond.”

In the potentially competitive 21st district, the Union organization endorsed Andrew Macurdy, a former federal and state prosecutor, and Garwood Councilman Vincent Kearney for State Assembly.  They are seeking to challenge GOP incumbents Nancy Munoz (R-Summit) and Michele Matsikoudis (R-New Providence).

Scutari acknowledged the new system without lines, saying that the organization he leads will continue to “deliver significant pluralities for our candidates.”

“We will work together throughout the Primary, and we look forward to unifying Democrats up and down the ticket for the difficult General election fights ahead,” stated Scutari.  “We will campaign aggressively and ensure that we do our part to keep New Jersey blue.”