The special election to replace the late Rep. Donald Payne Jr (D-Payne) gained two new Democratic candidates this afternoon: Shana Melius, a former staffer for Payne, and Sheila Montague, who ran for mayor of Newark in 2022.
The filing deadline for the 10th congressional district, a deep-blue seat based in Newark and other majority-Black parts of North Jersey, is today at 4 p.m., with the special election primary scheduled for July 16.
Melius had worked for Payne for the last three years as a digital coordinator and constituent services staffer; she previously worked for New York Rep. Yvette Clarke, and is also the founder of the social justice-oriented cannabis organization March for Equity. A Newark resident and a retired U.S. Army Reservist, Melius has never run for public office before.
“I’m running for Congress to bring a new energy, voice and perspective to the 10th congressional district,” Melius said in a statement announcing her candidacy. “The voters of the 10th district want solution-minded leaders who are going to roll-up their sleeves and get to work on the issues that matter, including: affordability, access to healthcare, a women’s right to choose, and jobs and the economy.”
Montague, meanwhile, is a professor at Essex County College and a frequent candidate for office in her home city of Newark. In addition to losing the 2022 mayor’s race to incumbent Ras Baraka in a landslide, she also ran for Newark City Council in 2014 and for the Newark Board of Education in 2020, 2021, and this year.
Montague did not immediately return a request for comment.
They both start out as underdogs against the early favorite for the seat, Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver, who has the backing of the Essex County Democratic organization and other top powerbrokers in the district.
Also filing to run so far are Linden Mayor Derek Armstead and state economic development official Darryl Godfrey, both Democrats, and Carmen Bucco, a Republican. Several other candidates, most notably former East Orange Councilwoman Brittany Claybrooks and Hudson County Commissioner Jerry Walker (D-Jersey City), are not yet included on the official candidate list.
This story was updated at 4:24 p.m. with a statement from Melius.