Eleven Democrats are running in a special primary election on July 18 to replace the late Rep. Donald Payne Jr. It is an unusual, wide-open race that is challenging the long-held power of New Jersey’s political party machines.
“The candidates have gotten the memo — they’re not intimidated by running against the organizations anymore. That’s why you have nearly a dozen candidates in the race,” said Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics, referring to the demise of the state’s ballot system that gave an advantage to machine-backed candidates.
Typically, there would be little if any competition in such an election — with the heads of county Democratic political organizations picking a favored candidate, who would usually run unopposed. But this year, those powerful political machines have been challenged by community activists, reform-minded candidates and two major corruption cases against longtime members of the Democratic establishment — Sen. Bob Menendez and George Norcross, a party boss from South Jersey.
Even in a very low-turnout election with no other offices on the ballot, the ability of organizations like the Essex County Democratic Committee to anoint a candidate is ebbing.
Payne represented the 10th Congressional District for 12 years before his death at the age of 65 in April from health issues related to diabetes. The overwhelmingly Democratic district covers most of Newark as well as other parts of Essex, Union and Hudson counties.
The primary this month will select the Democratic candidate for a special general election in September, to fill Payne’s seat only until the new term begins in January. For the September election, the winner of the Democratic primary is expected to face Republican Carmen Bucco, who is running unopposed in his party’s special election primary.
Separately, a candidate chosen by the local Democratic Party organizations in the district will run in the regular November general election for the new term. That selection process has not yet been announced. Bucco ran unopposed in the regular June primary and will run in that race as well.
With the say-so of its Chair Leroy Jones, the Essex County Democratic Committee has endorsed LaMonica McIver, the president of the Newark City Council. McIver is also endorsed by the Union County Democratic Committee, and its chair, state Senate President Nicholas Scutari. The Hudson County Democratic Committee is staying neutral.
McIver, 38, who has served on the Newark City Council since 2018, said her track record shows she has the experience to fill Payne’s seat.
“I’m not saying we’re perfect, but we’ve made lots of progress,” McIver said. “We really became a model city all across the nation on our new initiatives to address crime here in the city.”
She noted that during her time in office, Newark established an office of violence prevention and trauma recovery that addresses mental health issues, drug abuse and gang violence.
McIver is considered the frontrunner in this race because she has the endorsements, not just of the party machines, but also from Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Sen. Cory Booker and Gov. Phil Murphy.
But she stumbled early in the short campaign cycle. McIver’s signature petitions, a requirement for getting onto the ballot, indicated that all 1,081 were collected by her mother in just three days. Another candidate, Brittney Claybrooks of East Orange, filed a lawsuit to challenge the petitions, but a judge let the petitions stand for lack of any evidence of wrongdoing.
Claybrooks is a former member of the East Orange City Council and an urban planner. She worked on Rep. Andy Kim’s primary campaign for Senate, which took on the Democratic Party machines and won. Kim successfully challenged Tammy Murphy, the governor’s wife, who was endorsed by all of the state’s major Democratic Party machines. He won a temporary injunction in federal court that prevented the machines from giving Tammy Murphy an advantageous placement on the ballot through a design called the “county line,” Tammy Murphy dropped out of the race just before the ruling.
“My hope is that people see this as another opportunity for them to have a Democratic Party or participate in Democratic Party that actually sees them and hears them,” Claybrooks said. “That’s what this movement is about. It’s about challenging the status quo.”
The county line design isn’t a direct factor in the special election primary, as it doesn’t apply to a ballot for only one position. But the defeat of the century-old ballot design was perhaps this year’s most potent blow to machine power. It places all party-endorsed candidates for a primary in a single row or column, regardless of which position they’re running for, giving them an advantage with voters that researchers say is rarely overcome.
“The machines are almost operating under the premise that the line still exists and they can still run roughshod over primaries and still get their way,” Rasmussen said.
The special election is expected to draw a very low turnout, given that it is being held in the middle of the summer and there is no other race on the ballot. Two weeks before the election, just 6,464 voters had returned mail-in ballots in a district with a population of 746,241, according to the Associated Press.
With 11 Democrats on the ballot vying for a small pool of voters, the special election features ripe conditions for an upset.
“It is the Wild West,” Rasmussen said. “The dozen-candidate field is a reflection that more people are not intimidated by the idea of running against the organization now, I don’t think you would have had a dozen people come out, generally speaking, in New Jersey for a race like this.”
The district has been represented by a Democrat from Newark since 1949. But among the field of 11, just a few candidates do not live in the city, including Claybrooks, whose campaign materials say she’d focus on investments in housing and transit, making health care available to everyone and making government more accountable.
Two candidates come from the eastern edge of the district, Hudson County Commissioner Jerry Walker and John Flora, a Jersey City teacher. As a commissioner, Walker has a base of voters he can mobilize, which could present a serious threat to McIver.
The same can be said for Derek Armstead, the mayor of Linden in Union County. Given the expected low turnout and the number of candidates in the race, both Armstead and Walker could end up at the top of the heap with the many Newark candidates splitting that city’s vote. Walker’s campaign emphasizes investments in housing and public safety, access to education, reducing taxes and protecting Social Security and Medicare. Armsted’s focuses on addressing income inequality, health care for all, and investments in education and transportation.
The majority of the candidates are from Newark:
McIver, the Newark City Council president endorsed by party leaders, said she supports the creation of more affordable housing, reproductive rights for women, increased access to health care and funding transit infrastructure.
Darryl Godfrey is chief operating officer of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and a vice president with Brick City Development Corporation. His campaign materials stress community investment, creating affordable housing and protecting democracy.
Eugene Mazo is a Newark native and law professor who previously ran for the seat. His research focuses on election law, the political process and the constitution.
Former Payne staffer Shana Melius is a veteran who has worked for several elected officials. She got into politics after working to improve racial equity for access to bone marrow transplants.
Essex County College professor Sheila Montague is a former Newark Public Schools teacher and member of Parents United for Local School Education. She has run unsuccessfully for both the Newark City Council and Newark Board of Education.
Alberta Gordon runs her own consulting business and is the founder of Above the Rim and South Ward Concerned Citizens. Her campaign materials list experience on neighborhood revitalization, improving police relations in the community and supporting small businesses.
Debra Salters is a Newark community activist who previously ran unsuccessfully for the Newark School Board and the state General Assembly. She has been involved in many community projects, working to provide food for the hungry, train citizens to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation and promote mental health among young Newark residents.
Bucco, the only Republican in the race, was born in Nutley. He is a tailor who built a business and has a foundation to provide support for children.
A Republican hasn’t won the seat since 1948.