PARTY PLAY
Trenton councilwoman wins 15th District State Assembly seat in Democratic convention
EWING » Trenton East Ward Councilwoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson is moving up the street and into higher office.
Instead of running for a third term, Reynolds-Jackson will soon resign from Trenton City Council and get sworn in at the New Jersey Statehouse as the next General Assembly member who represents the capital city and surrounding suburbs of the 15th Legislative District.
That is because Reynolds-Jackson received the blessing of the Democratic Party’s committee members on Saturday to fill the vacancy left by former Assemblywoman Liz Muoio (D-Mercer/Hunterdon), who resigned from office last month to work in Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration as state treasurer.
“I have big shoes to fill,” a grateful Reynolds-Jackson said Saturday afternoon in a convention floor victory speech at the Hollowbrook Community Center in Ewing. She thanked her supporters and said, “I look forward to working with each and every one of you.”
Scores of people, including elected Democrats who live outside the state’s 15th Legislative District, attended the contested convention to witness history in the making. “It’s exciting,” Muoio said of Reynolds-Jackson filling her vacant Assembly seat. “I think she’ll be great.”
Because Muoio is a Democrat, her departure from office gave elected Democratic committee people of Mercer and Hunterdon counties the legal power to appoint another Democrat to fill the vacancy.
Committeemen and committeewomen are elected in the primary election with general duties to promote voter registration, but these low-key party players morph into kingmakers whenever an officeholder vacancy occurs.
A relatively small group of committee people chose Reynolds-Jackson to represent the 200,000 residents of Legislative District 15. A more democratic process will take place in November when registered voters get to rightfully elect Muoio’s successor, but the interim step of filling the vacancy by party appointment has democratic elements.
“We are the most open convention process in the state of New Jersey,” Muoio said Saturday from the convention floor. “It’s definitely participatory democracy in Mercer.”
The race to succeed Muoio came down to three candidates as Reynolds-Jackson, Mercer County Freeholder Anthony Verrelli of Hopewell Township and West Windsor Councilwoman Ayesha Krishnan Hamilton all received nominations for the appointment.
A nominee needed to secure a majority of committee-member support to emerge victorious. In the first round of voting, none of the three nominees received the necessary 51 percent threshold. Hamilton, who was something of a dark-horse candidate, got eliminated from contention in the first round as she pulled in the least amount of votes among the three nominees.
“I want to thank you all for coming out,” Hamilton said in a concession speech. “Thank you for your support.”
A second round of voting took place pitting Reynolds-Jackson against Verrelli, a carpenters trade union leader and up-and-coming politician who won election to the Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders in November 2016. The runoff between the city councilwoman and county freeholder ended with Reynolds-Jackson pulling ahead and sealing victory with a majority of support.
“It was a good campaign all the way around,” Verrelli said in a concession speech before congratulating Reynolds-Jackson on the convention floor.
“I’m excited about democracy,” Reynolds-Jackson told The Trentonian after winning the appointment. Although the convention was contested, the event appeared to unfold in an orderly and peaceful manner.
When all was said and done, the party appeared to unite and rally behind Reynolds-Jackson, who will serve as an unelected Assembly member for several months before a special election is held Nov. 6. The winner of that special election would serve for the remainder of Muoio’s twoyear term.
“I have a great seatmate,” fellow 15th District Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, a Trenton Democrat, said of Reynolds-Jackson. “Both Assembly people (of the 15th District) are from the city of Trenton. This is an exciting time for the capital city. Verlina is a passionate person that is going to do extremely well in the Assembly.”
When Reynolds-Jackson makes the transition from 319 E. State St. to 125 W. State St., she must resign from her full-time state government job in addition
to vacating her City Council seat due to ethics rules and prohibitions on dual office-holding.
Reynolds-Jackson has been a longtime New Jersey Department of Community Affairs employee and a two-term East Ward councilwoman. She’ll depart from those positions to serve as an appointed member of the General Assembly, a part-time lawmaking job that pays $49,000 per year.
New Jersey state lawmakers are allowed to simultaneously work for local or county government. Within that framework, Reynolds-Jackson told The Trentonian she has landed a new job as a Mercer County employee and will simultaneously serve as a state assemblywoman and county employee.
Reynolds-Jackson’s rise to higher office was largely fueled by her gaining the respect and confidence of politically connected suburban Democrats. When the late Rich McClellan died in October 2016, Reynolds-Jackson succeeded him as chairperson of the Mercer County Democratic Committee. She helped fuel Mercer Democrats to victory in the general elections of 2016 and 2017, establishing herself as a party heavyweight and regional mover and shaker.
A sitting Trenton City Council vice president, Reynolds-Jackson first won election in 2010 and got reelected in 2014 as the East Ward representative. With two terms of City Council service under her belt in addition to her stature as a party boss and her cheerful demeanor, all of these elements propelled Reynolds-Jackson to victory when she decided to throw her hat in the ring as a candidate for Muoio’s vacant Assembly seat.
A packed convention hall cheered the announcement of Reynolds-Jackson winning the appointment Saturday afternoon. The incoming state lawmaker, who is expected to be sworn into office on Thursday, Feb. 15, was all smiles as she received hugs, kisses and congratulatory wellwishes from a sea of supporters.
“She’s got the smile of a winner,” Gusciora said of Reynolds-Jackson.
“I think Verlina is going to be a strong assemblywoman,” Lawrence Township Mayor Christopher Bobbitt said. “I look forward to working with her as assemblywoman.”
Bobbitt and Ewing Councilman Kevin Baxter talked highly of Reynolds-Jackson but also gave kudos to Freeholder Verrelli and Councilwoman Hamilton, complimenting them on their valiant but unsuccessful effort to win the party’s appointment.
“It was a good, open convention,” Bobbitt said. “It goes to show the bench that Mercer has in LD15.”
New Jersey’s 15th Legislative District, also known as LD15, comprises the Mercer County municipalities of Ewing, Hopewell Borough, Hopewell Township, Lawrence Township, Pennington, Trenton, West Windsor and the Hunterdon County municipalities of East Amwell, West Amwell and Lambertville.
Democrats appointed Muoio to the 15th District Assembly seat in early 2015 after her predecessor, Bonnie Watson Coleman, vacated the seat to take higher office as an elected member of Congress. Muoio won election to the seat in November 2015 and got re-elected last November, but she resigned from office Jan. 15 after the Democratic governor nominated her to a powerful job. If the New Jersey Senate confirms her, Muoio will become the second woman to serve as state treasurer.
Now that Democrats have appointed Reynolds-Jackson to serve in the seat vacated by Muoio, the path is wide open for a newcomer to get elected this year as Trenton City Council’s East Ward rep.