Race To Replace Payne Sizzles In NJ-10; Watch Candidate Debate (VIDEO)

NEW JERSEY — The race to replace U.S. Rep. Donald Payne Jr. in New Jersey is approaching its first major milepost: a special primary election.

Voters living in the 10th District of New Jersey are currently without a representative in Congress following Payne’s death in April.

New Jersey's 10th Congressional District includes the following municipalities:

• Essex County – Caldwell, East Orange, Essex Fells, Irvington, Montclair (part), Newark (part), Orange, Verona, West Orange
• Hudson County – Jersey City (part)
• Union County – Cranford, Garwood, Hillside, Kenilworth, Linden (part), Roselle, Roselle Park, Union Township

Gov. Phil Murphy announced that a special election will be held to fill the seat, with special primary and general elections set for July 16 and Sept. 18. The winner will take over for the rest of Payne’s unexpired term, which runs until January 2025.

The seat will also be one of many up for grabs in New Jersey’s general election on Nov. 5, with the winner assuming office from January 2025 to January 2027.

CANDIDATE FORUM

Many of the candidates running to replace Payne recently met to debate the issues at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark.

Watch video footage from the July 1 candidate forum below, or view it online here.

Two candidates – Carmen Bucco (Republican) and Debra Salters (Democrat) – didn’t attend the forum. The other candidates are:

• Derek Armstead, mayor of Linden
• Brittany Claybrooks, former East Orange Councilmember and North Jersey political director for Congressman Andy Kim’s U.S. Senate campaign
• John J. Flora, Jersey City educator
• Darryl Godfrey, CEO, New Jersey Redevelopment Authority
• Alberta Gordon, Democratic district leader, Newark’s South Ward
• Shana Melius, former staffer for Rep. Payne Jr.
• LaMonica McIver, Newark City Council president
• Eugene Mazo
• Sheila Montague
• Jerry Walker, Hudson County Commissioner

The forum was hosted by the NAACP’s branches in Bayonne, Hillside, Irvington, Jersey City, Montclair, Newark, the Oranges and Maplewood, as well as the Urban Leagues of Essex County, Hudson County and Union County.

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