Another Democrat has announced a campaign for retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing)’s seat in the 12th congressional district: Somerset County Commissioner Shanel Robinson (D-Franklin).
Robinson, who has been the county board’s director since Democrats took over the majority in 2019, said she hopes to carry on the legacy left by Watson Coleman, who announced her decision to depart Congress earlier today.
“With Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman’s decision not to seek re-election, we have an opportunity to build on her powerful legacy while bringing new energy and vision to Washington,” Robinson said in a statement. “I’m ready to be that voice – for every family, every worker, every neighbor – regardless of your zip code, background, or who you love.”
One other Democratic elected official, East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen, has already launched a campaign for the 12th district. And lots of others, including state legislators, county officeholders, and even some congressional candidates in neighboring districts, are looking at the race as well, making for what’s likely to become a crowded and hectic primary.
As a countywide official, Robinson already has a geographic base in Somerset County, which casts a sizable chunk of the district’s vote.
A veteran of the U.S. Air Force reserves, Robinson began her elected career in politics in 2015, when she ran for and won a seat on the Franklin Township Council. In 2017, she was the Democratic nominee for county freeholder, but narrowly lost; at the time, Democrats had not won a freeholder seat in Somerset County, a historically Republican but increasingly blue suburban area, in nearly four decades.
In 2018, Robinson came back for another go, and this time she and running mate Sara Sooy successfully unseated two Republican incumbents. A year later, Democrat Melonie Marano flipped a third seat, giving Democrats control of the board for the first time since 1964; Robinson was chosen as the board’s director, becoming the first Black freeholder director in the county’s history.
That’s a role Robinson has held ever since, as Somerset Democrats have steadily expanded their dominance over the county government. Robinson was also named the director of the New Jersey Association of Counties at the beginning of this year.
Congress, however, is entirely new territory for Robinson, and she’ll likely be going up against a huge array of other Democrats from across Central Jersey. If elected, Robinson would be the third Black woman to represent New Jersey in Congress; Watson Coleman was the first.
“As a veteran, I know what it means to serve something bigger than yourself,” Robinson said in her announcement today. “As a local elected official, I’ve seen how Washington’s decisions affect real people in real time. And as a grandmother, I’m thinking about the world we’re leaving behind.”
