State Sen. Angela McKnight (D-Jersey City) says she is “always prepared” for a potential Democratic primary challenge from Assemblyman Jerry Walker (D-Bayonne), but declined to say whether she plans to seek re-election in 2027.
“Right now, I am concentrating on the election for the midterms,” McKnight said, without explaining her involvement in the upcoming election.
Asked whether she was prepared for a primary challenge, McKnight said. “Well, you always have to be prepared no matter what. If you don’t prepare, then that’s not a good thing.”
“I’m always prepared,” she added.
Her comments come amid signs of shifting political alliances in Hudson County, where Walker has left open the possibility of challenging McKnight for the Democratic nomination in the 31st Legislative District.
McKnight was not invited to a Wednesday evening fundraiser in Jersey City for Hudson County Executive Craig Guy, who also serves as Hudson County Democratic chairman.
Walker attended the event, along with U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, Gov. Mikie Sherrill, Jersey City Mayor James Solomon, Bayonne Mayor Sharon Ashe Nardowski, State Sen. Brian Stack (D-Union City), State Sen. Raj Mukherji (D-Jersey City), and former Jersey City Mayor Robert Menendez, among other Democratic leaders.
The gathering highlighted Guy’s political alliances heading into his 2027 re-election campaign, while McKnight’s exclusion underscored uncertainty about her political future.
Walker, a former Hudson County commissioner who won election to the Assembly in 2025, said earlier this month he hadn’t ruled out a Senate bid. The New Jersey Globe previously reported that Walker was interested in moving directly to the upper house.
McKnight won her Senate seat in 2023 after Senate President Pro Tempore Sandra Bolden Cunningham decided not to seek another term. Then-Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop backed McKnight, who had served in the Assembly since 2016, to succeed Cunningham.
Walker won the 2025 Democratic Assembly primary by a wide margin, finishing ahead of incumbent Assemblyman William Sampson (D-Bayonne) in the first legislative primary held without the county line.
A McKnight-Walker contest would pit two incumbent Democratic legislators against each other in the 31st District, which includes Jersey City, Bayonne and Kearny.
For now, McKnight is keeping her 2027 plans to herself, even as Walker considers a challenge and Hudson County’s Democratic leadership begins positioning itself for the next election cycle.