Hudson County Commissioner Jerry Walker (D-Jersey City) will run in the special election for the 10th congressional district, according to a report yesterday from the Hudson County View.
“There are things I think I can get done in Washington and I think this is my opportunity to do it,” Walker told the Hudson County View. “Affordability is my number 1 priority, particularly in Jersey City, but for the entire 10th congressional district.”
Walker’s entrance makes him the first Hudson County-based candidate in the special election, which was triggered by the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-Newark) last month. The Democratic primary – the real contest worth following in the overwhelmingly blue, majority-Black district – is scheduled for July 16.
Also in the race are Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver and former East Orange Councilwoman Brittany Claybrooks; Linden Mayor Derek Armstead and state economic development officer Darryl Godfrey are planning to run as well.
McIver is seemingly the early favorite, since she has the support of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and the broader Essex County Democratic organization. The 10th district is an Essex-based seat, and has been held by a Newark politician since the 1940s.
But the more crowded the race becomes, the more unpredictable it gets. If the vote in Essex and Union Counties is split several ways, that could leave an opening for a candidate like Walker based in Jersey City, which makes up around one-fifth of the district.
The special election is also only part of the battle for the seat. Since the filing deadline had already passed by the time Payne died, he is set to win the Democratic primary uncontested, after which county committeemembers from the 10th district will gather to select a new nominee. That nominee – which could be the same person as the special primary winner, but it doesn’t have to be – will then be put on the November ballot for a full term in Congress.
Walker, a former basketball star, was elected to the board of county commissioners in 2017, after first entering the political scene as a longshot Jersey City mayoral candidate in 2013. He had been exploring another campaign for mayor in 2025, a campaign that might still go forward if his congressional bid isn’t successful.