Overview
- The 80-year-old said the decision followed “tremendous thought and reflection” and conversations with her family, adding she is “at peace.”
- The move creates an open race in New Jersey’s 12th District, which includes Trenton and Princeton and has voted reliably Democratic in recent cycles.
- Watson Coleman was the first Black woman elected to represent New Jersey in Congress and has served in the House since 2014 after 17 years in the state legislature.
- She is a self-described progressive focused on anti-poverty efforts and previously criticized President Donald Trump’s policies.
- Her announcement comes as other House members plan departures, including Nancy Pelosi and Jared Golden, while she has recently backed Rep. LaMonica McIver in a Newark detention-center case with charges still unfolding.