New Jersey Democrats on Thursday night selected state Sen. Nellie Pou to replace Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. on the November ballot after Pascrell’s death last week.
New Jersey Rep. Rob Menendez and New York Rep. Adriano Espaillat both congratulated Pou on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Both noted that Pou would be the state’s first Latina member of Congress.
“I look forward to working side by side with her as the @HispanicCaucus continues to grow to reflect our country,” Espaillat said.
Democrats picked Pou for the 9th District nomination at a special party convention on Thursday, after she won an endorsement from Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday. Other state officials, including a trio of key county chairs, had endorsed Pou earlier this week, according to local reports.
“Senator Nellie Pou is the ideal public servant to succeed Congressman Pascrell and continue his life’s mission of building a stronger, fairer, more equitable, and more inclusive New Jersey for every family,” Murphy said in a statement.
A longtime state legislator, Pou served in the General Assembly from 1997 through 2011, and began her tenure in the state Senate in 2012.
She will face Republican Billy Prempeh, who won the GOP primary in June with 72.5 percent of the vote. But Pou will be heavily favored to win the seat. Pascrell won his 2022 race against Prempeh — their second matchup — by 12 percentage points.
Thursday was the last day to replace Pascrell on the ballot under state law, forcing Democrats to quickly decide on their pick to succeed the longtime House member as he was laid to rest on Wednesday.
Pascrell, who was 87 and was in his 14th term, died last week after two hospital stays this summer.
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