Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter (D-Paterson) is taking steps toward challenging 87-year-old Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) in the Democratic primary.
Sumter confirmed that she is interested in running for the 9th district seat.
“I’m taking a chance to be considered to serve in a greater way for the Democratic Party,” Sumter told the New Jersey Globe.
The seven-term lawmaker plans to make her case to her home county Democrats on Saturday when the Passaic County Democrats hold a screening committee meeting to consider candidates seeking the organization line.
Sumter faces a deadline of February 13 to compete at next month’s Bergen County Democratic convention, giving her one week to gather six signatures in at least five municipalities in the Bergen County portion of the district – a difficult task considering Pascrell’s longtime relationships in South Bergen.
Only parts of Kearny and Secaucus in Hudson County are in Pascrell’s district, and Hudson Democrats have already indicated their intent to back the incumbent.
But Sumter, a strong vote-getter in parts of Passaic County and a significant voice on social justice issues in the legislature, has an alternate path if the 14-term congressman is the choice of the Passaic, Bergen, and Hudson Democratic organizations: she could team up with Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown), who is seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.
Kim faces First Lady Tammy Murphy in that primary. Murphy has the line in Hudson and is expected to secure organization support in Bergen and Passaic, where county chairmen Paul Juliano and John Currie, respectively, have already endorsed her. Pascrell has endorsed Murphy, but Sumter has deliberately stayed out of the contest.
Phil Murphy had considered Sumter for lieutenant governor when he first ran in 2017, and again last year following the death of his running mate, Sheila Oliver.
In the 2022 primary – the first election under the current map – Bergen and Passaic cast roughly the same number of votes, with 8% of the Democratic primary voters coming from Hudson.
Pascrell would become the oldest member of the U.S. House of Representatives if he’s re-elected this year. He had nearly $1.4 million in his campaign warchest as of the end of 2023.
Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh had also mulled a primary challenge against Pascrell, but after putting a poll in the field, Sayegh has decided not to run.
The Paterson Press first reported Sumter’s interest.
Pascrell still has two prospective Republican challengers in the 9th district, which strongly favors Democrats but which still hosted a closer-than-expected race in 2022: Billy Prempeh, a U.S. Army veteran whom Pascrell defeated in 2020 and 2022, and perennial candidate Hector Castillo, whom Pascrell defeated in 2016.