State Sen. John McKeon (D-West Orange) confirmed Tuesday that he will seek re-election next year, setting the stage for what could become one of New Jersey’s most closely watched Democratic legislative primaries as factional divisions within the 27th Legislative District continue to deepen.
“Oh yeah, absolutely,” McKeon said when asked about running again.
McKeon, who served 22 years in the Assembly before succeeding former Gov. Richard Codey (D-Roseland) in the Senate, also pledged to seek re-election alongside Assemblywomen Rosy Bagolie (D-Livingston) and Alixon Collazos-Gill (D-Montclair).
“I will always support my running mates, no question,” McKeon said. “No question whatsoever.”
McKeon said he expects all three incumbents to run together and receive the backing of the Democratic organization.
“I suspect all three of us will have the support of the party,” McKeon said.
That show of unity is more significant than it might be in most legislative districts. Bagolie and Collazos-Gill have not always gotten along; in fact, they did not even run together last year. Although both received party backing, they were not bracketed together, an unusual arrangement for Assembly candidates from the same district.
The divide between Bagolie and Collazos-Gill reflects broader political fault lines within the overwhelmingly Democratic 27th Legislative District, making it conceivable that either assemblywoman could choose a different running mate next year.
McKeon had hoped to become attorney general after Mikie Sherrill was elected governor, but was not one of the final two candidates.
Complicating next year’s Assembly primary is last winter’s contentious special Democratic primary for Sherrill’s 11th congressional district seat, won by progressive Analilia Mejia (D-Glen Ridge). Split over issues related to Israel, Bagolie, the legislature’s first Jewish Latina, never endorsed Mejia in the April special election and briefly considered challenging her in the June Democratic primary for a full two-year term. Collazos-Gill backed her husband, Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill, in that race.
McKeon’s biggest political challenge may be holding together the district’s competing factions. The district includes a growing Arab American population in Clifton, the heavily progressive Montclair, the minority-majority West Orange — the township is 27% Black, 22% Hispanic, and 7% Asian — and Livingston and Millburn, which have large Jewish populations. Livingston backed Mejia by just two percentage points over Republican Joe Hathaway in the April special election.
Bagolie could wind up running for Congress in 2028, particularly if this year’s progressive momentum in Democratic primaries begins to fade. It remains unclear whether Mejia will play a role in next spring’s Assembly primaries.
A potential challenger to both incumbents is Roseland Mayor James Spango, a former Essex County undersheriff whose mother, Essex County Superintendent of Elections Patty Spango, was the longtime West Orange Democratic municipal chair. Spango has $280,626 cash-on-hand with no opponent in his mayoral re-election campaign this fall. In April, Bagolie reported $184,512 banked, while Collazos-Gill had $56,277.
Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics, believes there may be little to prevent a contested Democratic primary.
“I really question whether there’s anything that can be done to prevent a primary in the 27th district,” Rasmussen said. “These are some of the most politically active communities in New Jersey, with some of the most politically engaged people in New Jersey.”
McKeon, 68, is not entirely immune to a primary challenge, although such a scenario appears less likely than a contest for the Assembly seats. Rasmussen said the 27th District is fertile ground for progressive candidates following the end of the county line system.
The veteran lawmaker and former West Orange mayor also has a significant war chest, with $331,146 in the bank as of April. Interestingly, but not necessarily relevant to his re-election bid: McKeon’s daughter is married to the great-grandson of Nelson Rockefeller, the Republican who served as governor of New York and vice president of the United States.
“If there’s any district in the state where progressives are going to like their chances in the brave, new world of post-line primaries, the 27th is it,” Rasmussen said.