Voters in Maplewood and South Orange will be choosing candidates for the NJ Assembly in the June 10 primary — along with candidates for other offices including Maplewood Township Committee, Essex County Clerk and New Jersey Governor.
Two years ago, voters choose Garnet Hall (D-Maplewood) and Cleopatra Tucker (D-Newark) in the newly redrawn 28th district (Maplewood and South Orange were previously part of the 27th district for more than two decades). Hall and Tucker came in with the top two vote counts in a 3-way Democratic primary that included former Maplewood Mayor Frank McGehee, and then easily defeated Republican challengers in the general election.
This year, Hall is running without the endorsement of the Essex County Democrats, after she was outpolled by Tucker and Newark West Ward Democratic Municipal Chairman — and Maplewood native — Chigozie Onyema at the Essex County Democratic convention in March. (This is the first assembly election following the abolition of the “county line” and rise of the county convention; read more here.)
After initially bowing out following the convention loss, Hall quickly reversed course and announced that she would run on a slate with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Fulop using his “Democrats for Change” slogan. South Orange Mayor Sheena Collum is also running with Fulop (although she is not on the primary ballot) as his pick for lieutenant governor.
Hall has been a Maplewood resident for more than 35 years and currently serves as Deputy Essex County Clerk, a position she assumed following a career in executive corporate sales. She has also served as Vice Chair of the Maplewood Democratic Committee for the past ten years and a long-time Maplewood District Leader. Read more here or here.
Chigozie Onyema grew up in the Hilton Neighborhood in Maplewood and at 18 years old, after graduating from Columbia High School, ran unsuccessfully for South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education. He is an attorney and Newark West Ward Democratic Committee Co-Chair. Read more about Onyema at chigozieonyema.com.
Cleopatra Tucker
Cleopatra Tucker is a nine-term Assembly person and 60-plus year Newark resident. She is currently a full-time legislator; prior to her election in 2002 she served as a non-profit director and worked as a case manager for the Newark Housing Authority for more than 30 years. Read more here or here.
The 28th district is comprised of South Orange, Maplewood, and Newark’s West and South Wards in Essex County and Hillside in Union County.
According to Ballotpedia, no candidate has filed for the Republican primary.
The local progressive grassroots group SOMA Action has also produced a primary election guide for South Orange and Maplewood voters. Read the SOMA Action’s Democratic Primary Guide here.
