NJ-11: Sue Altman, progressive rabble-rouser turned Democratic standard-bearer, announces run

A few years ago, when she was still the rabble-rousing state director of the New Jersey Working Families Party, the phrase “Congresswoman Sue Altman” likely would have been greeted with laughter by most of the movers and shakers of New Jersey politics.

That was before Altman clinched the 2024 Democratic nomination for the 7th congressional district, raised over $6 million, and, after eventually losing to Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), became the state director for brand-new Senator Andy Kim. Today, Altman is launching the next phase of her political career: running to succeed Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) in the 12th district.

It will be an entirely different kind of campaign than in 2024; rather than a year-and-a-half marathon in a wealthy swing district, Altman will now have to win a four-month Democratic primary sprint in a majority-minority, deep-blue seat with more than a dozen other Democrats already running. She’ll also have to work to convince a massive array of Central Jersey Democrats that she, despite not originally being from the district, is the best fit to represent it in Congress.

But there’s little question that Altman’s entry reshapes the unsettled race for the 12th district, and she said she’s ready to prove her worth to a whole new set of voters.




https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/sue-altman-progressive-rabble-rouser-turned-democratic-standard-bearer-announces-run-for-nj-12/