Pleading to fight Donald Trump, Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, a four-term lawmaker from Trenton (just re-elected to her fifth term earlier this month), will seek the Democratic nomination for Congress in New Jersey’s 12th district to succeed Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing).
She becomes the third declared candidate for the safely Democratic open seat, which will be the first cycle to begin without county lines in primary elections, and the first candidate from Mercer County. Somerset County Commissioner Shanel Robinson (D-Franklin) and East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen quickly joined the field last Monday after Watson Coleman, 80, made an unexpected retirement announcement.
The campaign to fill the seat is moving quickly: vote-by-mail ballots for the June 2026 primary election will be sent out in approximately five months.
Reynolds-Jackson called Watson Coleman “a guiding light for our state and our nation.”
“As she begins a well-earned new chapter, we must carry forward the torch she lit — a torch that shines for working families, for our seniors, for our youth, and for all who believe in equity and hope,” Reynolds-Jackson said.
From 2010 to 2018, Reynolds-Jackson served as a Trenton city councilwoman. In 2018, she won a special election in the 15th legislative district – the Trenton-based district Watson Coleman used to represent – to replace Assemblywoman Elizabeth Muoio (D-Hopewell), who resigned to become State Treasurer following Phil Murphy’s election as governor. She is also a grants administrator for Mercer County and a former Democratic county chair.
In that February 2018 special election convention, Reynolds-Jackson defeated then-Mercer County Freeholder Anthony Verrelli (D-Hopewell), 94-77, in a second ballot victory. Verrelli narrowly won an Assembly seat later that year when Reed Gusciora stepped down to become mayor of Trenton; the two now-running mates have not faced a primary challenge since then.
In her campaign announcement, Reynolds-Jackson said she’s ready to go to Congress to continue Watson Coleman’s mission “to tackle affordability, protect our rights, and ensure that every child, every family, and every community has a fair shot at success.”
“This moment calls for steady leadership to keep New Jersey families at the center of national policy,” she said. “From the community to the capital, and now, from the capital to Congress — I’m ready to make sure that every voice is heard and every person is valued. I’m proud of the work I’ve done in New Jersey — and I will take that same energy and integrity to Washington.”
Reynolds-Jackson, the chair of the Assembly Education Committee and vice chair of the Appropriations Committee, serves on Speaker Craig Coughlin’s leadership team. She has played key roles in passing legislation that combats New Jersey’s maternal mortality crisis, expands family leave, prohibits medical debt from appearing on credit reports, and creates a statewide rape kit tracking system.
The assemblywoman took aim at Trump in her announcement, saying that with “what we’re seeing in Washington right now, we need more people to stand guard against Trump’s misguided policies and discourse threatening American families, their healthcare, and essential services they depend on daily.”
“We must protect the affordable healthcare that over 45 million Americans use to take care of themselves and their loved ones. We must make sure parents can put food on the table for their children without worrying about how high the prices of eggs, milk, and pasta are,” Reynolds-Jackson said. “A grocery store trip should not be scary.”
Her entrance into the race was not unexpected. Rev. Dr. Charles F. Boyer, the pastor of Trenton’s Greater Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church and one of the state’s most politically influential Black ministers, made it clear last week that he would back Reynolds-Jackson if she ran.
But the deep-blue 12th district is home to plenty of ambitious Democrats, and Reynolds-Jackson is unlikely to have an easy path to Congress. Cohen and Robinson are already in the race, while Jay Vaingankar, a 27-year-old former White House and Department of Energy official under President Joe Biden, is considering a run.
Another potential leading candidate, State Sen. Andrew Zwicker (D-South Brunswick), has not yet made a decision about running. Zwicker ran once before, losing the Democratic primary to Watson Coleman in 2014 after seven-term Rep. Rush Holt (D-Hopewell) decided to step down.
Other possible contenders include Assemblywoman Tennille McCoy (D-Hamilton), Middlesex County Commissioner Shanti Narra (D-North Brunswick), Middlesex County Surrogate Claribel Cortes, Mercer County Clerk Paula Sollami Covello, Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp, Ewing Councilwoman Sarah Steward (a former Holt staffer), and Millstone Mayor Ray Heck, whose town is among the state’s smallest municipalities at a population of 448.
Lesser-known fitness studio owner Kyle Little was already running for the 12th district even before Watson Coleman announced her retirement.
The district spans four different counties – Mercer, Middlesex, Somerset, and Union – each of which has some local politicians likely to be interested in the seat. It’s possible that the Democratic primary to succeed Watson Coleman will be fought along geographical lines, though the death of the county line may make those regional alliances weaker.
In 2014, Holt’s retirement created a four-way Democratic primary among Watson Coleman, State Sen. Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro), Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula (D-Franklin), and Zwicker, then still a relatively unknown physicist. The three state legislators all earned party support in their home counties, but Watson Coleman, who was also endorsed by Democrats in Union County, beat Greenstein by 5,514 votes, 43% to 28%.
Watson Coleman’s victory made her the first Black congresswoman in New Jersey history; Reynolds-Jackson would be the third if she wins. Watson Coleman has also been a leading progressive in New Jersey’s congressional delegation, and she said when she retired that she hopes her seat is filled by someone who will “continue leading [the] charge” for progressive policies.
