Progressive slate thwarted in bid for Essex Democratic State Committee seats

In what looks like a substantial victory for Essex County Democratic Chairman and New Jersey Democratic State Chairman LeRoy Jones, Jr., a slate of candidates backed by party leaders captured ten Democratic State Committee seats in Essex County in a contest with a progressive-backed ticket of candidates.

Seventeen candidates were in the race and eight incumbents did not run for another term at today’s Essex County Democratic convention.

The lone incumbent winner was Terry Swanson Tucker, a former East Orange school board member who served as chief of staff to the late Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver. Another incumbent, South Orange Democratic municipal co-chair and labor leader Larry Hirsch, was unsuccessful.

The winners were: Akeem Cunningham (444), a former deputy chief of staff to East Orange Mayor Ted Green who now works at the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs; Al Tariq Shabazz (407), an urban planner from Irvington; Abdul-Malik Ali (398), a Newark zoning official; East Orange Democratic municipal vice chair Julio Apone III, an aide to Assemblywoman Carmen Morales (388); Newark Board of Education Co-Vice President Allison James-Frison (376); Tucker (373), Newark Board of Education Co-Vice President Vereliz Santana (367), the Latino Base Vote director for New Jersey Demcorats in 2025; Khalil AC Nassiruddin (329), a former chief of staff to Newark Central Ward Councilwoman Gayle Chaneyfield Jenkins, Beth Savodnik Chevat, a member of the Montclair Democratic executive committee (323); and Stacey Abenstein (200), a Livingston Democratic county committee member and the chief of staff to State Sen. Renee Burgess.,



https://newjerseyglobe.com/local/progressive-slate-thwarted-in-bid-for-essex-democratic-state-committee-seats/