The Fast-Developing 2026 Democratic Primary in CD-12
Insiders today began to see a defining shape in the aftermath of the retirement announcement by U.S.
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-12). At this moment in time, Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds- Jackson (D-15) and Somerset Commissioner Director Shanel Robinson appear poised to go for the seat.
Robinson's already formally in the contest.
That sets up a collision between Somerset (bound Brook, Bridgewater (part), Hillsborough (part), Blackwell Mills, Franklin, Manville, Millstone, Montgomery, North Plainfield, Rocky Hill, and South Bound Brook); and Mercer (Ewing, Hopewell, Hopewell Twp., Pennington, Princeton, Trenton, and West Windsor).
Robinson hails from Franklin, Reynolds-Jackson from Trenton.
Millstone Mayor Ray Heck is also said to be interested in the seat.
East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen will run.
More names will likely emerge.
Insider eyes will continue to watch Middlesex, home of state Senator Andrew Zwicker (D-16).
But for right now, Mercer v. Somerset looks like the strongest collision point for the seat occupied by Watson Coleman.
Reynolds-Jackson, former Trenton East Ward councilwoman, versus Robinson, former Franklin Twp. councilmember.
The daughter of a Vietnam War veteran and granddaughter of a WWII and Korean war veteran, Robinson served two tours as an Air Force mechanic, working for the most part on the A-10 Warthog. She has lived through the United States going into Iraq (twice) and now watches as the world teeters on the brink amid Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.
First elected commissioner in 2018 and reelected in 2021, Robinson experienced the ground zero impact of Hurricane Ida, which, on the heels of COVID-19, devastated Somerset County and again revealed system unreadiness and inadequacy.
A veteran lawmaker from the state's capital city, with deep family roots in the country's history and struggle for justice, Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D-15) of Trenton backed the reintroduction of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New Jersey and expressed optimism in its passage.
Reynolds-Jackson's father is a Vietnam War veteran and her mother a union organizer.
"Voting was always important to us and because I have the experience of being a poll worker, I understand the challenges people face when they go to vote," said the Assemblywoman from Trenton.
This is a developing story.
