Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver received an endorsement today from the property services union 32BJ SEIU, the first major union to wade into the 11-way special Democratic primary for the late Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-Newark)’s seat.
“Throughout her time on the Newark City Council, LaMonica McIver proved herself to be a champion for workers’ rights and a true ally of labor,” 32BJ SEIU Executive Vice President Kevin Brown said in a statement. “Whether she was standing with our commercial cleaners as they negotiated their first post-pandemic contract or fighting with the union to improve working conditions at Newark Airport, McIver has long since proven she will always back working New Jerseyans.”
According to Brown, 32BJ – which represents cleaners, food workers, doormen, security officers, property maintenance workers, and more – has 4,700 members in the 10th congressional district alone.
McIver is seen as the early favorite in the 10th district, a majority-Black seat which covers most of Newark and surrounding towns in Essex, Hudson, and Union Counties. She has the support of Essex Democratic Chair LeRoy Jones and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, perhaps the two most important figures in the 10th district, among a number of other mayors and party leaders.
32BJ’s endorsement is an early signal that organized labor may go along with the district’s power players in backing McIver (though of course each union will make that decision on its own). 32BJ is also a major force in the state’s progressive sphere, which has a number of different self-proclaimed progressive Democrats to choose from in the July 16 special primary.
It remains to be seen whether any of McIver’s primary opponents – among them Hudson County Commissioner Jerry Walker (D-Jersey City), Linden Mayor Derek Armstead, former East Orange Councilwoman Brittany Claybrooks, state economic development official Darryl Godfrey, and former Payne staffer Shana Melius – can attract any labor support for their campaigns.