Bayonne Board of Education Trustee Mary Jane Desmond and Jersey City Board of Education Vice President Noemi Velazquez are seeking the two Assembly seats in the 31st Legislative District as independents.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Desmond, also a former Hudson County deputy clerk and city councilwoman-at-large, returned to the school board in January after being the top vote getter in November with 4,307 ballots case in he favor, tallies from the county clerk’s office show.
Velazquez, who was first elected to the Jersey City BOE in 2019, was successfully re-elected last fall with 17,539 votes, making her the top vote getter in her contested school board race.
Neither could immediately be reached for comment on Monday.
Like Democrats and Republicans in the primary, independent legislative candidates require 100 valid signatures to make the ballot for the November 7th general election.
Sources familiar with the situation, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said that the duo submitted 356 signatures each in Trenton this afternoon. Today at 4 p.m. was the deadline for independent candidates to file.
In today’s Democratic primary in LD-31, Assemblywoman Angela McKnight is attempting to succeed returning state Senator Sandra Cunningham with the support of the Hudson County Democratic Organization.
She faces Michael Griffin, a close ally of Jersey City Ward F Councilman Frank “Educational” Gilmore, serving as his campaign manager in the November 2021 non-partisan race.
Assemblyman William Sampson is seeking re-election alongside Barbara Stamato, a first time candidate who is the current chair of the Jersey City Democratic Committee. They face a challenge in Shanelle Smith, Griffin’s sole running mate.
The winners there were already slated to face three Republican legislative candidates who are running unopposed in the primary: Luis Soto for Senate, along with Sydney Ferreira and Angelique Diaz for Assembly.
