Democratic leaders in New Jersey are poised to select Sen. Nellie Pou to replace Rep. Bill Pascrell on the November ballot on Thursday, a week after the 87-year-old congressman died following a lengthy hospitalization.
Her expected nomination at a special party convention Thursday night comes after Pou received major endorsements from party power brokers in the state and a trio of rivals withdrew this week. Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, endorsed Pou on Wednesday.
“Nellie Pou is the ideal public servant to succeed Rep. Pascrell and continue his lifelong mission to build a stronger, fairer and more inclusive New Jersey,” Murphy said in a statement.
New Jersey’s 9th Congressional District is deep blue — Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump there by 19 percentage points in 2020 — so Pou would be heavily favored to beat Republican nominee Billy Prempeh. If elected on Nov. 5, Pou would make history as the first Hispanic woman elected to Congress from New Jersey. The 9th District, across the Hudson River from Manhattan, has a large Hispanic population.
After spending much of the summer in the hospital with a respiratory infection, Pascrell died on Aug. 21 and was remembered at a funeral Mass on Wednesday at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in his hometown of Paterson. Pou, Murphy, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Jamie Raskin were among the Democratic officials in attendance.
Under state election law, Thursday is the deadline for Democratic county committee members to replace Pascrell on the ballot. If local leaders don’t act, ballots will be printed with the late congressman’s name.
Pascrell was the second Democratic lawmaker from New Jersey to die in office this year. Rep. Donald Payne Jr., 65, died April 24 of a heart attack caused by complications from diabetes. A third Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, died July 19 at age 74 from pancreatic cancer.
The other New Jersey Democrats running to replace Pascrell, a former mayor of Paterson, were Assemblymembers Benjie Wimberly and Shavonda Sumter and Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh.
But Pou, 68, who has served in the New Jersey Legislature since 1997, was able to consolidate his support after winning critical backing from Democratic committee chairs representing the three counties that make up Pascrell’s old district: Passaic, Bergen and Hudson.
Wimberly, Sumter and Sayegh quickly dropped out.
In a statement last week, Biden paid tribute to Pascrell and recalled their three-decade friendship.
“Bill was a colleague and a great friend. I had the privilege of working with him for decades on issues ranging from the Fire Grants and Safety Act for the well-being of first responders and their families, to veterans’ healthcare, international trade, tax fairness, unions and much more,” Biden said.
“Over the course of our 30-year friendship, Bill defined himself as a dedicated patriot, a gentleman, and an exemplary leader,” the president continued. “A beloved bridge builder and champion for working-class people, Bill fought tirelessly to ensure that their voices and needs were central to policymaking. I have always known that Bill’s positions were guided by his deep conscience and convictions.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
