Three Democratic candidates are vying for two seats to represent New Jersey’s 28th Legislative District in the New Jersey Assembly: Cleopatra Tucker, incumbent; Garnet Hall; and Frank McGehee. Two candidates — Joy Freeman and Willie S. Jetti — are running in the Republican primary. The primary takes place on June 6, 2023. Village Green is accepting letters of support for candidates up until May 30, 2023 at 5 p.m. (email villagegreennj@gmail.com). The following is from Noah Morros, Columbia High School senior and Student Representative to the South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education.
As a member of our local community and as a representative of the student body of the South Orange Maplewood School district, our legislators’ attention to educational efficacy, along with responsiveness to youth opinion, is of the utmost importance to me. I began working with Frank McGehee on the Maplewood Youth Advisory Committee in 2021. It was immediately clear just how much he valued youth presence, taking hours out of his day to field our concerns and work on local policy with us.
Losing Assemblywoman Jasey, a pioneer in the Assembly’s educational sphere, requires a candidate who can fill those big shoes. Frank McGehee has gone out of his way to speak to me at length about what can be done in the legislature to improve our schools here in the 28th legislative district. He is the only candidate to reach out to me, someone who represents 7,000+ students in his district, on this matter. Frank McGehee is intent on closing the educational gap, a problem that we’ve faced in our own district for a long time, while also looking to increase youth voter turnout in our surrounding schools in Newark and Irvington. After our lengthy conversations, also in considering the endorsement of the South Orange Maplewood Education Association, I am confident that Frank McGehee is the best candidate to fill this role.
If the Democratic party intends on succeeding in an increasingly polarized political’climate, they need to reach youth voters—the party needs to show our younger generation that their vote matters and that their vote can bring change. As someone who is attempting to shift the way that the party reaches voters in our state, Mr. McGehee embodies the change that needs to be made. It is with great pleasure that I wholeheartedly endorse Mr. Frank McGehee for Assemblyman in New Jersey’s 28th Legislative District.
– Noah Morros
