Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly (D-Paterson) has dropped his bid for the Democratic nomination for Congress in New Jersey’s 9th district, leaving State Sen. Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon) the apparent winner of a six-day campaign for Bill Pascrell’s seat.
The seven-term lawmaker and celebrated high school football coach entered the race less than one week ago, one day after Pascrell died at age 87. Pascrell had been campaigning for re-election, and Democrats have until Thursday to pick a replacement candidate to run on the general election ballot for a full two-year term.
Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter (D-Paterson) suspended her campaign earlier today, and Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh withdrew from the race on Monday afternoon.
The short, nine-day campaign for a House seat took a sharp turn over the weekend when three Democratic county chairs from the 9th – Paul Juliano of Bergen, Craig Guy of Hudson, and John Currie of Passaic – settled on Pou, a 27-year veteran of the state legislature, as their choice.
Wimberly, Sumter, and Pou participated in a candidate forum sponsored by the New Jersey Globe, On New Jersey, and the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University on Monday evening.
In just a few days, Wimberly assembled an impressive list of endorsements, including Paterson Councilmembers Lillisa Mimms, Ruby Cotton, and Forid Uddin; Haledon Mayor Michael Johnson; Prospect Park Councilman Robert Artis; former Passaic County Commissioner TJ Best; and a number of other former elected officials from across the county.
A Paterson native, Wimberly, spent more than two decades as a high school football coach, including a long stint as head coach at Paterson Catholic High School that included seven state championship wins. In 2010, he was elected to the Paterson City Council; just over a year later, he moved up to the State Assembly from a Paterson-based district.
The winner of the special Democratic convention will face Republican Billy Prempeh, a U.S. Air Force veteran who was mounting his third bid to unseat Pascrell.