The pastor of one of Newark’s largest black churches has decided not to seek the 10th district congressional seat held by Democrat Donald Payne, Jr. until his death on April 24.
The Rev. Dr. Ronald Slaughter leads the 1,800-member St. James AME Church and had been gearing up to run. He’d already secured commitments of support from 30 pastors and nominating petitions circulated on his behalf over the weekend gave him more than triple the amount he needed to get on the ballot.
“It is LaMonica McIver’s time,” Slaughter told the New Jersey Globe. “It is not in the best interests of Essex County or the 10th congressional district for me to pursue the Democratic nomination. To continue pursuing the nomination would require me to cut deals against people who mean a lot to me.”
McIver, the Newark council president, has emerged as the front runner after securing the backing of Essex County Democratic Chairman LeRoy Jones, Jr., Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, Jr., Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, and the mayors of East Orange, Irvington, and Orange.
Slaughter had supported McIver in her two bids for the Central Ward Newark council seat and said he would back her for Congress.
Last Friday, Gov. Phil Murphy ordered a June 16 special primary election and a September 18 special general election to fill the remaining months of Payne’s current term in Congress. Democratic county committee members will select a new nominee to run in the November 2024 election for a full two-year term.
The 49-year-old Slaughter was nominated to the New Jersey State Parole Board by Murphy in 2018 and then named him vice chairman in 2023. He also holds a community relations post with the Newark Department of Public Safety and is chairman of the St. Michael’s Medical Center board.
He said he didn’t want to see his family get hurt by what might have become a contentious election.
“This journey has been exciting, but full of a lot of dark places,” Slaughter said. “And it is those dark places that I’m not suited for.”
He had sent out text message seeking $1,000 pledges for a possible House run.
If Slaughter won, he would have become the first clergyman to represent New Jersey in the U.S. House of Representatives since Charles Eaton (R-Watchung), the pastor of the Madison Avenue Baptist Church in New York. He spent thirty years in Congress before his 1952 retirement launched the political career of Peter H.B. Frelinghuysen (R-Harding).
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