Two more Middlesex Democratic legislators have gotten behind East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen’s campaign for Congress: Assemblymen Sterley Stanley (D-East Brunswick) and Robert Karabinchak (D-Edison), both of whom represent Cohen’s hometown in the state legislature.
Stanley’s and Karabinchak’s colleague in the 18th legislative district, State Sen. Patrick Diegnan (D-South Plainfield), endorsed Cohen in December.
“I’ve had the privilege of serving on council with Mayor Brad Cohen and running alongside him twice,” Stanley, who served on the East Brunswick Council before being elected to the Assembly in 2021, said in a statement yesterday. “I’ve seen firsthand his dedication, his values, and his tireless commitment to doing what’s right for our residents.”
Another Middlesex Democrat, State Sen. Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro), is preparing to endorse Cohen as well, the New Jersey Globe has learned. Greenstein’s seatmate, Assemblywoman Tennille McCoy (D-Hamilton), once looked likely to launch a campaign of her own, but said last month that she probably won’t join the race.
The endorsements are another good sign for Cohen ahead of the Middlesex Democratic convention next Wednesday, March 11. Facing several opponents with higher national profiles than himself, Cohen will likely depend on having the formidable Middlesex organization’s backing in order to remain a top contender for retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing)’s seat.
Cohen is the only current Middlesex elected official competing for the Democratic nomination, though plenty of other Democrats from the county, among them former Middlesex Borough Councilman Matt Adams, are also in the race. (One Middlesex Democrat who might have been Cohen’s rival for party support, State Sen. Andrew Zwicker, decided not to run.)
Thus far, endorsements in the 12th district have broken down on predominantly regional lines. Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D-Trenton) has dominant support in Mercer County, where she won the party endorsement last week; Somerset County Commissioner Shanel Robinson (D-Franklin) is the favorite for party support in her home county; and Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp, whose city is the only Union County town in the district, essentially awarded the Union Democratic endorsement to himself.
A handful of other serious contenders – among them former 7th district candidate Sue Altman, surgeon and Army veteran Adam Hamawy, and former Energy Department official Jay Vaingankar – are unlikely to win any official party endorsements but have paths to victory that don’t rely on them.
