BY WALTER ELLIOTT
NEWARK – The 11 candidates looking to get Democratic voters’ nomination and the solo ballot Republican candidate are the long and short of July 16’s special primary election to succeed the late Cong. Donald M. Payne, Jr. (D-Newark).
Registered voters among Payne’s N.J. Congressional District 10 in parts of Essex, Hudson and Union counties should be getting their sample and/or Vote By Mail Ballots in the mail by now.
Those 18 CD 10 towns, as drawn up in the wake of the 2020 U.S. Census, include East Orange, Irvington, Orange, West Orange, Newark except for its East and North Wards and Montclair’s South End. The district includes the “West Essex” towns of Caldwell, Essex Fells and Verona.
The district outside of Essex County also includes “Central” Jersey City in Hudson County plus Union County’s Hillside, Union Township, Kenilworth, Cranford, Garwood, Roselle, Roselle Park and part of Linden.
Those ballots are to feature 11 candidates for the Democratic nomination and the one Republican candidate – the winners of each will go head-to-head in Sept. 18’s special general election.
The winner would be filling for Payne in what would have been the remainder of his current term though Jan. 3. The winner may also be considered by his or her respective county Democratic or Republican party committees to run in Nov. 5’s General Election for a full two-year term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The counties’ Democratic committees have until Aug. 29 to replace Payne on that General Election ballot. A majority of participating registered voters gave the posthumous seven-term Congressman tribute by making him the winner of their June 4 primary.
Payne, 65, died of a heart attack here, complicated by his diabetic condition, April 4. The second-generation Congressman’s death came after the deadline to replace his name on the June 4 primary ballot.
Democratic and Republican party officials called for the special primary and general election due to the narrow majority that the latter has in the House of Representatives. It would take less than a handful of newly-elected Congress members to preserve or sway the balance of party power there.
Essex County Clerk Christopher Durkin (D-Roseland) has not posted the July 17 special primary ballot on essexclerk.com as of 10 a.m. July 9. Durkin’s Hudson and Union county colleagues, however, had – and their ballots are similar in format.
Hudson and Union voters are getting a single ballot for both parties, regardless of being registered as a Republican or a Democrat. They are both using the ballot block layout that was used for the June 4 regular primary election by federal court order.
Sample ballot and VBMB readers will be seeing CARMEN BUCCO’s name in the special and regular elections. The Nutley native has received the endorsement from all three Republican party organizations.
It is not clear whether Bucco has moved to an address within CD 10 as of press time. State rules need not have a federal level office holder reside in the Congressional district he or she represents.
He does have a tailoring store and the Bucco Rising Stars Foundation for orphans transitioning into adulthood in Nutley. The “Man of Style with Bucco” talk show producer and host is also a licensed real estate agent.
There is a blank space to Bucco and the Democratic candidates’ right-hand side for a write-in candidate.
While Bucco is running by himself with county GOP support, the 11 Democratic Party candidates can fill an average-size minivan. Those Democratic candidates, in alphabetical -not ballot – order are:
Linden Mayor DEREK ARMSTEAD bills himself as “Democrat For The People” on the Union and Hudson county ballots. The lifelong city resident was Fourth Ward Councilman 1993-2014, and has received the endorsement of State Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D- Linden) as Union County Democratic Committee President. The Hudson County Democratic Committee has decided not to make an endorsement for this primary.
Armstead, a lifelong Lindenite, used his Union County College computer science degree to work for Prudential. He has received awards from the NAACP’s Elizabeth and Roselle branches and from NJBIZ.com.
Former one-term East Orange Second Ward councilwoman BRITTANY D. CLAYBROOKS bills herself as “Claybrooks for Change.” The campaign manager for Congressman Andy Kim (D-Bordentown) has worked in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and was a member of the Young Invincibles youth advocacy group.
Claybrooks had challenged LaMonica McIver campaigners before Administrative Law Judge Kim Belin May 17 over their petition signature validity, saying that one volunteer could not have received 1,200 signatures in 24 hours. One McIver worker said that it had happened – only to shortly recant. Judge Belin, after barring several McIver and Claybrooks petitions, allowed both candidates on the ballot.
JOHN J, FLORA says he is “Endorsed by Lincoln, Kennedy And Grant.” Flora has posted on his campaign website a photo of his three children dressed as President Abraham Lincoln, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and President/Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.
The resident of Jersey City’s Greenville section teaches in that city’s public schools was born in Union County and holds respective associates and bachelors degrees from Hudson County Community College and Jersey City State University. Flora, who holds respective masters in political science and education policy from George Washington and Columbia universities, has railed against the county/party line ballot design.
Newark born and raised DARRYL GODFREY calls himself as the “Democrat for Healthcare, Jobs, And Affordability.” The South Orange villager is the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority’s Chief Operating Officer and Invest Newark’s Executive Vice President going back 15 years.
The Rutgers Class of 1985 Economics diploma holder, who came from a banking background, said that he can raise campaign funds and, if necessary, self-fund his run.
Third-generation Newarker ALBERTA GORDON says on the Hudson County ballot that she is “Rooted In Tradition, Driven By Innovation” and, on the Union ballot, “Traditional Values, Modern Solutions.”
Gordon has been a small business owner-operator since her time at an ice cream parlor while attending Science High School – on her way to graduate from Seton Hall University. The former Newark Housing Authority Community Engagement Manager has co-founded Above the Rim and South Ward Concerned Citizens to respectively address youth violence and resident/senior opportunities.
Rutgers Law School professor EUGENE D. MAZO says he is backed by the Hudson County Democratic Corporation and the “Normal Democratic Organization of Union County.”
Mazo, who came to Newark as a five-year-old Russian refugee, is a recognized expert on democracy and the rule of law. The author of “The Best Candidate” and four other books calls himself a “proud Newarker.”
LaMONICA McIVER has Essex County Democratic Committee endorsement, party campaign machinery and a constellation of public official endorsements.
The current Newark Municipal Council President and Central Ward Councilwoman hopes voters will allow her to follow the trail blazed by Donald M. Payne Jr., and Sr.
McIver was first elected in 2018 as part of Mayor Ras Baraka’s “Moving Newark Forward” slate. The founder of the GALS encouragement group for female leaders had been Montclair Public Schools’ personnel director and part of PSE&G’s public affairs office.
SHANA MELIUS, under her “Fighting for Progress” banner, has said on her LinkedIn page that she wants to become “the first person from the Hip Hop industry elected to Congress.
Melius, was digital coordinator and press assistant in Cong. Payne’s office since 2021. She had founded March for Equity, a social justice-oriented cannabis group. The Newark resident has been an Army reservist.
Essex County College professor SHEILA MONTAGUE is running under her own “Together We Serve” slate. Voters in her native Newark may be most familiar with Montague as an independent candidate for city offices from mayor to the board of education.
The Newark Public Schools elementary and high school teacher for 20 years is co-founder of Parents United for Local School Education and Change The Lens Together. The notary public holds Kean University degrees for public education and African American studies.
Former Essex County College Board of Education Student Representative DEBRA SALTERS proclaims, “Salters Gets It Done!” on her ballot places. She has made recent independent runs for Newark mayor and school board member.
“Newark born and bred” Salters has certifications as an OSHA trainer and a self-employed CPR and AED instructor. The 10-year community activist is founder of “Newark One Ward Wide.”
Hudson County Commission Vice Chairman JERRY WALKER (D-Jersey City) has “Jersey’s History is Helping Others” on the Hudson ballot and “The Peoples Politician” on the Union ballot.
The city basketball scholar-athlete-turned Seton Hall graduate had founded the “Team Walker Learning Center” to provide summer and afterschool STEM, tutoring and GED preparation to county-wide children three-to-18. The certified Life Skills Instructor is a Jersey City Recreation Department supervisor.
Vote by mail balloting and early voting polling station locations will be open July 12-14 and 16.
Those using VBMB may send their ballots in the mail or at designated drop boxes so long as they get postmarked or deposited before 8 p.m. July 16.
Essex County Clerk Durkin will have his Election Division workers, municipal clerks and/or Essex County Sheriff’s officers open drop boxes and early voting stations 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. Monday-Saturday and through 6b p.m. Sunday at the following locations:
Early Polling Stations
- EAST ORANGE – City Hall, 44 City Hall Plaza.
- IRVINGRON – Municipal Building, 1 Beasley Civic Sq. West.
- NEWARK:
- Essex County Complex Parking Garage
- W. Market Street Entrance
- Weequahic Park Community Center
- Elizabeth and Meeker avenues Entrance.
- West Side Park Community Center
- 600 W. 17th St.
- Essex County Complex Parking Garage
- WEST ORANGE – Richard J. Codey Arena, 560 Northfield Ave.
- VERONA – Verona Community Center
- 880 Bloomfield Ave.
Dropbox locations in each of the county’s 22 municipalities are unchanged from previous elections.
Questions and details are to be found at essexclerk.com.
