State Sen. Renee Burgess (D-Irvington) has endorsed LaMonica McIver for Congress in the so-far sleepy July 16 special Democratic primary in New Jersey’s 10th district.
McIver, the president of the Newark City Council and the front runner for the unexpired term of the late Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. (D-Newark), also won the backing of Assemblywomen Cleopatra Tucker (D-Newark) and Garnet Hall (D-Maplewood).
“In this crucial election year, when not only democracy but also reproductive rights and a host of other freedoms and protections are on the ballot, Democrats can only afford to put the strongest candidates on the general election ballot, Burgess said.”
Burgess, Tucker, and Hall represent the district that includes Irvington, Hillside, and part of Newark, which are also in the 10th.
Tucker said she was “confident LaMonica will be a partner at the federal legislative level that will benefit all New Jerseyans, especially those in the 10th congressional district.”
“I ran for office to improve the quality of education, the quality of our communities, and the overall quality of life for the residents of the 28th District, and I’m glad to know we have a partner in LaMonica McIver who shares those values.”
For an open House seat with no organization line, there has been relatively little activity in the primary so far. Only one candidate, state economic development official Darry Godfrey, is up on the air with a significant media buy. But McIver has been dominating establishment endorsements.
County clerks have sent out 31,683 vote-by-mail ballots for the Democratic primary, with 2,159 of them (6.8%) already returned. Suburban voters are dominating the returned ballots so far.
Democratic County Committee members in the 10th district, which includes parts of Essex, Union, and Hudson counties, must meet before late August to pick a replacement candidate for Payne to run for a full two-year term in the general election. That person doesn’t have to be the winner of the special primary election, but selecting the person who prevails in the 11-candidate special primary would give the new nominee legitimacy.
Payne died on April 24, after the primary election filing deadline, and won the June 4 Democratic primary posthumously.
The winner of the special primary will face Republican Carmen Bucco in a September 18 special election.