27-05-2025
Challenger Kenyatta Stewart competitive in fundraising for NJ 35th District Assembly seat
PATERSON — Lawyer Kenyatta Stewart has raised $125,692 in contributions for his primary challenge against the two candidates backed by the Passaic County Democratic Party's leadership in the 35th District Assembly race.
Stewart — whose funding includes $31,000 in loans he made to his own campaign — sits pretty much in the middle of his two main rivals in fundraising, as seen in preliminary campaign finance reports filed with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.
Al Abdelaziz, the former Paterson councilman appointed by Democrats to fill a vacant 35th District Assembly seat in January, has collected $173,231 in donations. Another candidate, Orlando Cruz, a Passaic County commissioner, has received $47,100 in fourth candidate, Romi Herrera, a former Garfield council member, reported raising just $4,706.
The district is composed of Paterson, Prospect Park, Haledon and North Haledon in Passaic County and Elwood Park and Garfield in Bergen County.
'If you look at Stewart's list of contributions, it shows that he is well-connected as a prominent attorney,' said Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University. 'This is not your normal outsider challenge, someone who comes to the table without connections and without fundraising ability.'
Stewart works as Newark Mayor Ras Baraka's corporation counsel in that Essex County municipal government. Political insiders said they expect Baraka's popularity among Paterson's African American voters in the gubernatorial primary to have a spillover effect to help Stewart.
Rasmussen said Abdelaziz and Cruz will benefit from their backing by the Passaic County Democratic leadership through campaign signs and possible election mailings that feature all candidates backed by the organization. He also said the county party will run a get-out-the-vote operation on the day of the primary that should help Abdelaziz and Cruz at the polls.
After court rulings last year eliminated the 'party-line' ballot advantage that existed in New Jersey primaries for decades, political observers say they're seeing this year's June contests approach with unprecedented uncertainty, as well as a greater number of challengers taking on organization-backed candidates.
Abdelaziz said the money he has raised will help him communicate with voters.
'Our campaign is proud to have built strong grassroots and community support across the 35th District,' Abdelaziz said. 'Fundraising is just one part of that story — and we're grateful to everyone who believes in our message of affordability, public safety and delivering real results for working families.'
More than $80,000 of Abdelaziz's contributions came from business owners and professionals connected to South Paterson's Middle Eastern and Palestinian communities. Political strategists said that money also will benefit Cruz, Abdelaziz's running mate in the Assembly contest, with mailings, fliers and house signs bearing both of their names.
'We're working collectively,' Cruz said.
The county commissioner said he and Abdelaziz have focused on door-to-door campaigning.
'It's not a concern to me,' Cruz said when asked about Stewart's fundraising edge over him. "We know the work we've been putting in. We're reaching out to voters in their neighborhoods, as opposed to opening storefronts.'
Cruz was referring to Stewart's May 22 announcement about a new campaign headquarters in Haledon, which joined his existing election offices in Paterson and Garfield.
Stewart said his six-figure total in preliminary campaign finance reports reflects what he described as a change in attitude among Democrats in the state.
'It speaks to the fact that voters throughout New Jersey want a different type of Democrat,' Stewart said, 'someone who's based on community first.'
Stewart's finance reports contained more than 25 donations from people who listed their profession as 'attorney.' He described himself as a candidate with 'grassroots' popularity along with financial support from professionals.
Stewart said he wanted to send a message by giving his campaign a substantial loan. 'You've got to have a personal investment in this,' he said.
Rasmussen, the politics expert from Rider, said the $125,000 listed on Stewart's 29-day pre-election report won't be enough money to put out cable television commercials or to send out many campaign literature mailings.
But, Rasmussen said, Stewart's first finance report puts him in the upper level among those taking on candidates backed by party leaders.
Benjie Wimberly is running unopposed for in the 35th District Senate primary. Wimberly was appointed to the Senate seat in January after Nellie Pou left the state Legislature to become a member of Congress.
This article originally appeared on Kenyatta Stewart competitive in fundraising for NJ 35th District seat
