NJ-8 seemingly gains another Democratic contender

Ane Roseborough-Eberhard, a teacher and Amistad Commissioner from Weehawken, has filed to run for the 8th congressional district seat currently held by retiring Rep. Albio Sires (D-West New York).

Roseborough-Eberhard has made no apparent announcements about her campaign, but she submitted 286 signatures to the New Jersey Secretary of State to run on the “Passion Driving Action!” ballot line. So far, she is the only candidate to officially file for the seat.

The heavy frontrunner in the race to succeed Sires is Port Authority Commissioner Rob Menendez, the son of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), who locked up support from the local Democratic establishment before he even formally announced a campaign. 

Also in the running are health care startup director David Ocampo Grajales and former Chris Christie staffer Brian Varela; a third candidate, electrical engineer and political staffer Ricardo Rojas, dropped out of the race last month.

According to Roseborough-Eberhard’s Linkedin page, she has been a teacher in the Weehawken Township School District for a decade, and also works as a self-employed music marketing consultant. In 2017, Roseborough-Eberhard was appointed by then-Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Secaucus) as a member of the Amistad Commission, a state commission tasked with ensuring that Black history is part of the New Jersey public school curriculum.