Newark Council President expected to replace Payne

LaMonica McIver, the 37-year-old Newark City Council President, has emerged as the leading candidate to succeed the late Donald Payne in the U.S. House of Representatives, the New Jersey Globe has confirmed.

In a private meeting on Friday evening, Essex County Democratic State Chairman LeRoy Jones and Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo met with four mayors from the Essex portion of the 10th district and came to a tentative agreement on McIver, a two-term Central Ward councilwoman and a political ally of Mayor Ras Baraka.  Mayor Ted Green of East Orange, Tony Vauss of Irvington, and Dwayne Warren of Orange, are preparing to support McIver.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced on Friday that a special primary election will be held to fill the remainder of Payne’s term on July 16.  The filing deadline is 4 PM on Friday.  The special general election is scheduled for September 18, and a new Member of Congress could be seated by the end of September.

McIver also becomes the clear frontrunner to win a vote of the Democratic county committee to replace Payne, who died last week at age 65 after a short illness and an extended series of health issues.  Payne is unopposed on the June 4 primary election ballot and is expected to win renomination posthumously.

At the meeting, Jones and the mayors discussed several potential candidates before agreeing on McIver: A’Dorian Murray-Thomas, a 28-year-old county commissioner and former two-term Newark school board member; Essex County Surrogate Alturrick Kenney, a former Newark deputy mayor; Newark South Ward Councilman Patrick Council; and Assemblywoman Shanique Speight.

Other candidates, including Rev. Ronald Slaughter, the pastor of the St. James AME Church in Newark and vice chairman of the New Jersey State Parole Board, could also join the race.

Roughly 54% of the 2022 Democratic primary vote came out of the Essex County portions of the 10th district, with 33% of the voters in Union and 13% in Hudson.  Union County is expected to back Essex’s choice.

A rising star in Newark politics, McIver was elected to the Newark city council in 2018 on a slate headed by Baraka after the incumbent, Gayle Chaneyfield Jenkins, ran against Baraka for mayor.  She won 41% of the vote in an eight-candidate non-partisan municipal election in May and then won the June runoff against Shawn McCray by 362 votes, 56%-44%.  She won a rematch with McCray with nearly 65% of the vote.

Active in politics since she was thirteen, McIver founded Newark G.A.L.S., a non-profit group that encourages future female leaders. She ran human resources for the Montclair public schools before joining the public affairs team at PSEG, a major New Jersey utility company.

If she wins, McIver will become the youngest member of the New Jersey delegation.