Hudson County Commissioner Jerry Walker (D-3) is one of eight Democrats running for Congress in the July 16th special primary election for Congress in the 10th District, an unofficial candidate list from the state says.
Walker filed 493 signatures, well over the necessary 200, today and he is the only candidate in the Essex County-heavy field to use three different slogans.
In Essex, he is running under the banner “People Before Politics,” compared to “The People’s Politician” in Union County, and finally “Jerry’s History is Helping Others” in his home county of Hudson.
A former Seton Hall University basketball star, Walker is also a part of the People’s Park Foundation, a nonprofit pushing for active recreation such as a multi-use sports field at Liberty State Park. The group is also linked to Liberty National CEO Paul Fireman.
While about half of Jersey City, most prominently Wards A, B, and F, are part of the district, CD-10 has historically been an Essex County-based seat out of Newark, though there are also eight municipalities out of Union County – such as Linden, Roselle, and Hillside.
The only other candidate based out of Hudson County is Shana Melius, of Secaucus, who used to work for U.S. Rep. Donald Payne, whose passing last month gave Gov. Phil Murphy (D) the option to hold a special election to fill the seat.
Newark Council President LaMonica McIver, former East Orange Councilwoman Brittany Claybrooks, Linden Mayor Derek Armstead, New Jersey Redevelopment Authority COO Darryl Godfrey, former Newark mayoral candidate Sheila Montague, and John Flora, who has previously run for the seat, all filed as well prior to today’s 4 p.m. deadline.
The special general election for the 10th District congressional seat is set for September 18th.
HCV first reported Walker said he was running for the seat on Wednesday.