Congressional Black Caucus PAC endorses Pou over Black Republican foe

The Congressional Black Caucus PAC is supporting Rep. Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon) for re-election – even though one of her GOP foes, Tiffany Burress, could become New Jersey’s first Black Republican representative if she’s elected.

The CBC only allows Black members of Congress into its membership, but its political arm will sometimes make endorsements beyond that (typically of Democratic incumbents). CBC PAC Chairman Greg Meeks said in a statement that Pou, the first Latina elected to Congress from New Jersey and a GOP target this year, has earned their support.

“Families are struggling to put food on the table and our Republican leadership is doing nothing about it,” Meeks said. “As a daughter of Paterson, Nellie understands the struggle first hand, and that is exactly why we need to send her back to Washington in November.”

Burress, for her part, said that an endorsement from the CBC – which for the last seven years has consisted exclusively of Democrats, even though there are five Black Republicans currently serving in Congress – won’t change the reality on the ground in Pou’s 9th district.

“The all-Democrat Congressional Black Caucus can make its endorsements, but what matters to families in NJ-09 is results,” Burress said. “When career politicians like Nellie Pou vote with [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] 94% of the time, she’s supporting policies that too often leave Black residents in our communities behind. And when Nellie votes against community project funding, she’s voting against investments in Black neighborhoods, from infrastructure to public safety to local economic growth.”

Burress is one of two Republicans running to unseat Pou in her Donald Trump-won district; Clifton Councilwoman Rosie Pino, her opponent in the June 2 primary, is Ecuadorian American and would also make history if elected.

The Republican nominee for the seat in 2020, 2022, and 2024, Billy Prempeh, was the son of Ghanaian immigrants and would have similarly broken the New Jersey GOP’s streak of only ever electing white members of Congress. His 2024 campaign, which he lost to Pou 51% to 46%, was the closest a nonwhite Republican has ever come to winning a New Jersey congressional seat.

In the past, the CBC has included a handful of Republican members, but it has always been dominated by Democrats, who make up the vast majority of Black members of Congress. The most recent Republican to join the caucus was Rep. Mia Love (R-Utah), who lost re-election in 2018; Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Florida) attempted to join after he was elected in 2020, but he was blocked from membership.

Asked whether Burress would seek to join the CBC if elected, a Burress spokesperson said it’s something she had not considered yet.

Six New Jersey Democrats are or were CBC members: Senator Cory Booker, Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing), LaMonica McIver (D-Newark), and Herb Conaway (D-Delran), and the late Reps. Donald Payne Sr. (D-Newark) and Donald Payne Jr. (D-Newark); the elder Payne served as CBC chairman from 1995 to 1997.