Bordentown Township Mayor Eric Holliday will seek the Democratic nomination for State Assembly in Burlington County’s 7th legislative district on a slate headed by gubernatorial candidate Steve Fulop in what could be a crowded field in the June 10 primary.
In the Bergen County-based 38th district, Glen Rock Board of Education President Damali Robinson, a U.S. Army veteran and nurse anesthesiologist, will join Donald Bonamo on a Fulop-backed Assembly ticket against incumbents Lisa Swain (D-Fair Lawn) and Christopher Tully (D-Bergenfield).
Fulop also announced that Freshta Taeb, who is active in the New Jersey Democratic Muslim Caucus, will run in the 12th district, and non-profit executive Donald Campbell, who lives with Cerebral Palsy, will run in the 9th district with Rosalee Keech.
“As we’ve said from the start, this campaign will continue to put people first, not politics,” said Fulop, a three-term mayor of Jersey City. “Eric, Freshta, Damali, and Don continually stand up for their communities and embody the compassionate, results-driven leadership New Jersey desperately needs. Together, we’re proving that prioritizing people over party bosses isn’t just the right thing to do — it’s how we create a stronger, fairer, and more prosperous future for everyone in New Jersey.”
Holliday is a retired New Jersey Department of Corrections sergeant who became Bordentown’s first LGBTQ+ township committeeman in 2015.
The circumstances of the 7th district race remain uncertain. Assembly Majority Whip Carol Murphy (D-Mount Laurel) is seeking re-election to a fifth term, and the other seat has been vacant since Herb Conaway, Jr. (D-Delran) resigned earlier this month to take his seat in Congress.
Last week, Democratic county committee members from Burlington County’s 7th district rejected a plan by party leaders requiring legislative and county commissioner vacancies to be filled only by interim caretakers. That could end the plan for former County Commissioner Dan O’Donnell to complete Conaway’s term.
Balvir Singh, a county commissioner who plans to run in the June primary for a full term, refused to accept the caretaker idea and said he would challenge O’Connell at the January 25 special election convention. That forces another candidate, Moorestown Mayor Nicole Gillespie, to take on Singh at the convention.
The 7th is safely Democratic, the 38th leans Democratic, and the 9th and 12th are safe Republican.
The total number of Fulop-backed Assembly candidates is now at 33.
RELATED ARTICLES
-
June 12, 2018 -
March 17, 2022 -
March 4, 2021