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New York|Bonnie Watson Coleman, a Democratic Trailblazer, to Retire From Congress
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/nyregion/bonnie-watson-coleman-retirement-congress.html
Ms. Watson Coleman, 80, the first Black woman to represent New Jersey in Congress, said she would not run for a seventh term in the state’s 12th Congressional District, near Trenton.
Nov. 10, 2025Updated 4:03 p.m. ET
Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman, the first Black woman to represent New Jersey in Congress, announced on Monday that she will not run for re-election next year.
Ms. Watson Coleman, a Democrat who will be 81 in February, has been a pioneer in New Jersey politics for decades.
Before entering Congress in 2015, Ms. Watson Coleman, who was born in Camden, N.J., served in the State Assembly for eight terms, rising to the rank of majority leader. In a statement, Ms. Watson Coleman said that the commitment to public service instilled by her parents had helped to guide her decision to step aside.
“I believe I have fulfilled that commitment to the very best of my abilities,” said the congresswoman, whose father also served in the State Legislature. “I have always stood on the front lines in the fight for principled progressive policies, and my work has centered on the belief that there must be a floor below which we should never allow any child, family or person to fall.”
Her decision not to run for a seventh term representing the state’s 12th Congressional District, which reaches north and east of Trenton, will create a second open congressional seat in New Jersey, a development sure to result in political jockeying.
Representative Mikie Sherrill of the state’s 11th Congressional District was elected governor last week and will be stepping down before the end of her term. At least three serious candidates have so far announced plans to run for Ms. Sherrill’s seat.
Ms. Watson Coleman said she was hopeful that voters in New Jersey and throughout the country would elect representatives “who, in the words of my dear former colleague and friend Congressman John Lewis, stand ready to ‘get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.’ ”
Ms. Watson Coleman has battled cancer but has remained a vibrant member of the state’s delegation.
In May, she joined two colleagues at a migrant detention facility in Newark for an oversight visit along with the city’s mayor, Ras J. Baraka. Ms. Watson Coleman was at the center of a chaotic confrontation with immigration agents that resulted in trespassing charges against Mr. Baraka and later led prosecutors to accuse one of her colleagues, Representative LaMonica McIver, of assault.
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Ms. Watson Coleman attended a pretrial hearing related to Ms. McIver’s case last month in federal court in Newark, sitting prominently in a front row of the gallery.
As news of Ms. Watson Coleman’s resignation began to spread, praise from current and former colleagues flowed in.
“When I was first elected to Congress in 2018, Bonnie was the only other woman in the delegation, and I appreciated her mentorship and counsel over the years,” Ms. Sherrill said in a statement. “While Bonnie’s voice will be missed in the halls of Congress, I have no doubt her leadership and guidance will continue to shape New Jersey for years to come.”
In her own statement, Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles and a former chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, called Ms. Watson Coleman’s career “nothing short of extraordinary — a legacy built on courage, compassion and an unshakable commitment to justice.”
“Congress will miss her wisdom, her warmth and that unmistakable spirit of determination that could inspire an entire chamber.”
Tracey Tully is a reporter for The Times who covers New Jersey, where she has lived for more than 20 years.
