Trenton City Council candidate withdraws candidacy over eligibility issue

To my neighbors, friends, and supporters across Trenton, I wanted to share this news with you personally because you have given so much to this effort, and you deserve to hear it directly from me. 

Recently, after consulting with my attorney and conducting a more detailed review of New Jersey law, I learned that an issue concerning the eligibility requirements for municipal candidates prevents me from continuing as a candidate for Trenton City Council At-Large. 

Upon learning this, I acted immediately and in good faith. Today, as the drawing for ballot placement was being held, I contacted the City Clerk on my own accord and withdrew my candidacy. 

I moved back home to Trenton in August 2025 — more than one year before the November 2026 general election. The candidacy requirements published by the City stated that candidates must be registered Trenton voters when petitions are filed, reside in Trenton, and have lived in the city for at least one year before the general election. I met each of those published requirements. 

Unfortunately, I have since learned that those requirements do not accurately or fully reflect how New Jersey law has been interpreted. 

N.J.S.A. 40A:9-1.13 provides that a candidate is not eligible: 

“unless he is registered to vote in the local unit to which the office pertains, AND has been a resident of that local unit for at least 1 year immediately prior to the date upon which the election for the office is to be held.” 

Based on the legal guidance I have now received, both requirements must be satisfied for the applicable one-year period — a distinction that was not made clear in the City’s published candidacy information. 

After moving back to Trenton, I also experienced an administrative lag while attempting to transfer my voter registration. When the November 2025 election arrived, that process had not been completed. Voting has always been an important civic responsibility to me, and I did not want to sit out an election while that administrative process was still pending. I therefore voted in the district where I remained registered at the time. My registration was subsequently transferred to Trenton well before I filed my petitions for office. 

Based on the information provided by the City, I believed in good faith that I was eligible to run. Once my attorney advised me otherwise, I acted immediately. 

While I am deeply disappointed, I believe leadership means respecting the law and the process. I also believe candidates deserve eligibility requirements that are clear, accurate, and consistent with state law. No candidate should discover a day before ballot drawings that the requirements provided by their city do not fully explain the law governing their eligibility.

I am incredibly grateful to everyone who believed in this campaign — everyone who volunteered, donated, put up a yard sign, attended an event, shared a post, knocked on a door, or offered a word of encouragement. 

My commitment to Trenton has not changed. I still believe deeply in this city and its people, and I will continue serving, organizing, speaking up, and working to help build the better Trenton we all know is possible.