LAWRENCE TWP. - Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D-15) of Trenton wants to have the backs of the people of the 12th Congressional District.

She built her life in politics and government on working to expand and improve services for her constituents. These services include healthcare, education, and transportation, and after serving on the Trenton City Council for seven years and in the General Assembly since 2018, she wants to go to the United States Congress to secure critical resources for the 12th District.

She wants to go from the State Capitol to the U.S. Capitol.

Reynolds-Jackson seeks to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, a mentor and fellow resident of the Mercer County portion of the district.

"I'm running because it's something that's been a part of my life - my whole life - trying to help people, going back to helping my nephews, and helping people gain access to resources for communities, since the days when I ran up against dismissive elected officials," she said, and resolved - when she got to elected office - to be responsive.

A social worker by trade, Reynolds-Jackson told InsiderNJ that these times call for her strong leadership skills.

Asked to identify the main threat confronting the constituents of the 12th District right now, she said, "Affordability and access to healthcare [including maternal health] - whether you're in an urban or rural space."

"I want to make sure healthcare resources are there for everyone," said the assemblywoman, who is proud of having secured funding for a bill signed into law that appropriated $10,200,000 to establish a three-year sickle cell disease pilot program. Under the bill, the Department of Health (DOH), in consultation with the Department of Human Services, will establish a three-year sickle cell disease pilot program, under which DOH will select Federally Qualified Health Centers to develop and implement comprehensive sickle cell disease treatment programs and services.

In addition, she wants improved education access.

"Special education is not fully funded," she observed.

She wants to change that.

She wants to ensure the full funding of SNAP funding and transportation.

Reynolds-Jackson said she has been part of a New Jersey Legislative Majority that successfully raised the minimum wage (to $15.92, in January of 2026) and prioritized senior residents with the StayNJ program.

She wants to focus on expanding those kinds of initiatives at the federal level.

The daughter of a Vietnam War veteran father and mother who worked as a civil service clerk typist, Reynolds-Jackson - herself a dues-paying union member - wants to protect the dignity of work.

Her people looked out for her. She wants to look out for her people.

She wants to expand the work she has done in the New Jersey Legislature to protect voting rights.

"What we want to do with the voter rights act is to codify our laws to make sure we have access [in New Jersey and beyond]," Reynolds-Jackson said. "If there is a problem, we want to make sure the voter is not disenfranchised. Protecting the right to vote is making us a leader.

"I come from local government - and I've gotten phone calls from voters about a polling place sited in a police precinct, for example, which is intimidating to some people," the assemblywoman added. "We have to keep an eye on the Boards of Elections and make sure we have rules codified that protect voters."

On day one she would take the cause of voting rights protection to D.C.

She seeks greater protections for the rights of immigrants. In that vein, she backs a bill by state Senator Joe Cryan (D-20), which would prohibit Immigration and Customs enforcement agents from wearing masks in the interest, she said, "of restoring public trust" and complying with the rule of law.

She notes her experience in elected office.

"It's about rules and relationships and getting to know people on both sides of the aisle," she said. "I listen a lot before I speak and I would take the same passion I have in Trenton to Capitol Hill. It all goes back to affordability and access what a representative can bring back to our state. Just as we had to go get the money from the Statehouse when I was a councilwoman, we need to focus on getting more resources back here from D.C. to continue to make New Jersey grow."

In a fast-developing Democratic Primary with at least five candidates running to succeed Watson Coleman, Reynolds-Jackson vows to run a strong grassroots campaign. "I didn't get here because I had a godfather," she said. "I'm here because I saw a need."

Finally, those needs for most people boil down to roads paved during snow season, money for schools and playground equipment, and transportation aid. That's where her focus lies.

"The legacy of Bonnie Watson Coleman is definitely that of a fighter who stood up for women's rights and equal rights, who carried the weight for civil rights. She's done that unapologetically," said the Assemblywoman. The retiring congresswoman also stands up for healthcare access, which again, remains a critical priority for Reynolds-Jackson.

"I do support universal healthcare," she told InsiderNJ. "I have Crohn's Disease, and I know what people go through. I see people with sickle cell disease who don't have access to research dollars and necessary additional medicines. People with heart disease and stroke and few resources. I see mothers who can't have a baby here in Trenton" because of an absence of maternal health resources.

She sees inadequate healthcare transportation for those same women.

"We have to do better," she said. "We want to see universal healthcare - and we don't want to see premiums double and triple.

"We want higher wage increases to stay in line with inflation," she added. "I'll take the fight for a living wage to Washington."

A self-described Christian public servant, the Assemblywoman sometimes wondered if she was really supposed to be there in Trenton.

Then she realized she could see her mother's back door from her district office, the home where she grew up.

That's when she knew she was in the right place.

Because a mother, she said, always has your back.