Mayor of tiny Somerset County borough adds name to NJ-12 Democratic primary

The mayor of Millstone, population 448, is running for the 12th congressional district, population 773,584.

Raymond Heck, who has led his tiny Somerset County borough since 2007, announced this morning that he will enter the Democratic primary to succeed retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing). He’s the fifth sitting elected official to jump into the race – though his constituency is a bit smaller than those of his opponents.

But while Heck’s constituency may not be large, he’s held some notable statewide roles over the years as the president of the New Jersey League of Municipalities and the New Jersey Conference of Mayors. A labor leader and public safety official, Heck is also a commissioner on the New Jersey Fire Safety Commission and the New Jersey Police Training Commission.

If elected to Congress, Heck said that he’d focus on protecting LGBTQ and minority communities, increasing federal resources for education and public safety, and “ensuring that good paying jobs are available, affordable healthcare is attainable and aggressively protecting our social security benefits.”

“With almost two decades as a Mayor and over three decades as a nationally recognized labor leader, Heck states his success speaks for itself,” Heck’s announcement reads. “Using these talents, Raymond Heck notes he will continue to build District 12’s strength by boosting it to be more competitive in the 21st century.”

Millstone, an enclave of Hillsborough, has proven to be something of an interesting swing town in recent years, though not many votes are at stake. It was one of just three towns in the entire state to support Kamala Harris in 2024 after voting for Donald Trump in 2020, and Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill won it by eight points earlier this year.

Heck, though, has the town’s electorate locked down: he hasn’t faced a general or primary election opponent since 2006, when he won a Democratic mayoral primary by a margin of 64 votes to 28.

There is some precedent for the mayor of a tiny town being elected to Congress: in 1918, East Newark Mayor Cornelius Augustine McGlennon was elected to represent the 8th district in Essex and Hudson Counties. McGlennon, though he was also a member of the State Senate at the time; he went on to lose re-election to Congress two years later.

If Heck is to repeat McGlennon’s feat, he’ll have to get past a primary field that also includes Somerset County Commissioner Shanel Robinson (D-Franklin) – who would likely have the inside track against Heck in getting party support in their shared home county – Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp, East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen, Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D-Trenton), ex-Energy Department official Jay Vaingankar, former West Windsor mayoral candidate Sujit Singh, and fitness studio owner Kyle Little. At least two others, State Sen. Andrew Zwicker (D-South Brunswick) and attorney Squire Servance, are considering campaigns.

The 12th district, which Watson Coleman has represented since 2015, spans parts of Middlesex, Mercer, Somerset, and Union Counties in Central Jersey, and is among New Jersey’s bluest and most diverse congressional seats.