Oakley Welcomes Cranford to 10th District

Montclair, N.J. — Imani Oakley, progressive candidate for Congress in N.J.’s 10th Congressional District, extended a welcome on Monday to Cranford which was recently redistricted into the 10th.

“Now that New Jersey’s redistricting process is complete, Cranford is in our district and I am excited to have them join our movement for justice in Union County,” she said. “Together we will face the overlapping crises of our time head-on.”

Other new additions to the 10th include Garwood, Kenilworth, Essex Fells, Caldwell, and Verona. West Orange and Union Township, which were partly in the district before, will now be entirely within the 10th’s new boundaries.

Oakley is running a progressive challenge to Donald Payne Jr. — a 5-term incumbent who has been frequently criticized for his ties to the fossil fuel industry, anti-union companies, and developer groups. Oakley’s campaign has managed to score several victories going into the final half of the race, including outraising Payne Jr. 2-1 in her first fundraising quarter, being featured in Teen Vogue, the Daily Beast, and the Young Turks as a progressive campaign to watch, and receiving numerous local and national progressive endorsements.

Those endorsements include the West Orange Young Democrats, Catch Fire, Brand New Congress, former progressive presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, Black Lives Matter activist Zellie Imani, Muslim community leader and civil rights advocate Selaedin Maksut, Maplewood Mayor Dean Dafis, and Mt. Rainier Vice Mayor Scott Cecil.

“Taking back our communities requires all of us,” Oakley said. “I look forward to working with Cranford residents as we strive for a just society.”