Kyle Jasey, son of assemblywoman, is running for U.S. Senate

Kyle Jasey, a real estate lender and the son of Assemblywoman Mila Jasey (D-South Orange), has filed to run for a 2024 U.S. Senate campaign, where he’ll challenge incumbent Senator Bob Menendez in the Democratic primary. Jasey’s campaign was first reported yesterday by Politico NJ.

An online presence for Jasey’s campaign first appeared in May, and he filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission on July 14. Neither move was widely noticed at the time, but Jasey told the New Jersey Globe that he plans on ramping up his campaign in the coming months, and he already has one prominent endorser: his mother.

“Between now and next June, I’m going to do as much as I can to get my message out there, and let people know about what I’m about, what’s important to me,” Jasey said. “I haven’t done this before, but I am a marketer, and I have done a lot of marketing in my business life. I think I will figure out how to effectively get the word out.”

Jasey said that he first considered running against Menendez back in 2018, but ultimately determined it wasn’t the right time.

“I told myself that if I was able in five years, and nobody major was running against [Menendez], then I would do it,” he said. “I would at least give people a choice.”

Menendez ended up winning the primary that year by an unexpectedly close margin, which Jasey said is evidence that there’s a base of voters looking for someone else to support. Menendez plans to run for another term this year, but his re-election campaign is complicated by an ongoing federal investigation into potential undisclosed gifts to him and his wife – something that Jasey’s campaign website directly references.

“I believe that our current representative’s multiple scandals make him unfit to serve, and I will do everything in my power to give the people of NJ an alternative who they can believe in,” the website reads.

With Roselle Park Mayor Joe Signorello III bowing out of the Senate race last month in favor of a House campaign, Jasey is the only Democrat taking up the mantle against Menendez, at least for now. On the GOP side, the leading candidate so far appears to be immigration attorney Shirley Maia-Cusick.

Jasey is currently the CEO of Jasey Capital Group, a real estate lending company. His prior political experience comes from working as intern manager in the Assembly office of the 27th legislative district – the district represented by his mother – and as a deputy field director on former Gov. Jon Corzine’s 2009 campaign.

Assemblywoman Jasey is now in her final term in the legislature, choosing to retire this year after 16 years in the Assembly following a significant redraw of her legislative district. Kyle Jasey’s father, Neil Jasey, also has a background in politics, serving as the acting state banking commissioner in the final months of Corzine’s term and as a Superior Court judge.

The assemblywoman told the New Jersey Globe that she fully endorses her son’s campaign – putting her at odds with the vast majority of New Jersey Democrats, most of whom are unlikely to buck the powerful Menendez.

“He has always been a very public servant-minded kind of guy,” Assemblywoman Jasey said. “He thinks very strongly that Menendez needs to go, that New Jersey needs a different voice… He recognizes that it won’t be easy, but he wants to get in the fray. He’s ready to try to make some changes.”