McIver defeats Armstead by one vote for Union Dem endorsement

Newark Council President gets to use county organization slogan in one-office special primary By David Wildstein, May 13 2024 9:46 am

Union County Democrats this morning endorsed LaMonica McIver, the president of the Newark City Council, as their candidate for Congress in New Jersey’s 10th district, giving her the chance to use the organization slogan in a one-office special primary election where organization lines don’t exist.

McIver defeated Linden Mayor Derek Armstead in a 5-4 vote.

Senate President Nicholas Scutari, the Union County Democratic chairman, voted for Armstead despite their strained history.

McIver had the backing of State Sen. Joseph Cryan, the Union Township Democratic municipal chairman, along with chairs in Cranford, Garwood, Kenilworth, and Roselle Park. In addition to Scutari, Armstead received votes from Hillside, Roselle—Assemblyman Reginald Atkins is the Democratic municipal chairman—and Linden, where Armstead is the municipal chairman.

In Union County, each municipality gets a single vote to award the party slogan.

A ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Zahid Quraishi eliminated lines in the June 2024 Democratic primary and mandated office block ballots.  While his decision did not apply to any other elections, it doesn’t matter in this race, since only one office – the unexpired term of the late Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. – is on the ballot in the July 16 special primary election.

Eleven Democrats are running in the special primary.    Payne, who died on April 24, remains on the June 4 primary ballot and is unopposed.  Party leaders can nominate the winner of the July 16 primary as their nominee for a two-year term in November, but they are not legally bound to.