Race to watch: What to know about N.J. 12th Congressional District candidates Bonnie Watson Coleman, Darius Mayfield

What questions do you have about the 2024 elections? What major issues do you want candidates to address? Let us know.

New Jersey’s 12th District congressional race pits Democratic incumbent Bonnie Watson Coleman against Republican challenger Darius Mayfield. Libertarian candidate Vic Kaplan and Green Party candidate Kim Meudt are also in the race.

This is a repeat of the 2022 election. That year, Watson Coleman captured 63.1% of the vote, defeating Mayfield, who received 35.9% of ballots cast.

The 12th Congressional District encompasses parts of Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset counties and Plainfield in Union County. Democrats are 43% of the registered voters, while Republicans account for 18%.

Democrat Bonnie Watson Coleman

Watson Coleman was born in Camden, New Jersey, she is a Ewing High School graduate. She attended Rutgers University and received a B.A. from Thomas Edison State College.

Before she began her public service career, Watson Coleman was a bureau chief in the Division of Civil Rights in the NJ Department of Law and Public Safety. She also headed up the Department of Transportation’s Office of Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action and Contact Compliance and served as an Assistant Commissioner in the Department of Community Affairs.

Watson Coleman said she decided to run for the General Assembly because her father, John Watson, was an Assemblyman, and had wanted his daughter to follow in his footsteps.

“He died and that was my way of keeping him alive,” she said. “I knew I had enough experience; I had worked with the legislature and it would be a good opportunity for me to continue the good work that he was doing.”

Watson Coleman said a key element of her campaign is to eliminate barriers and concerns for those who had been under-resourced or given no attention.

She was elected to the New Jersey Legislature in 1998, and represented the 15th district for 17 years. She served as the majority leader from 2006 to 2010.

In 2014, she ran for the 12th Congressional District seat left open by Rush Holt’s retirement and became the first African American woman to represent New Jersey in Congress.

Watson Coleman has served on the House Committee on Oversight; the Homeland Security Committee. She is currently a member of the House Appropriations Committee. She also sits on the subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development as well as the subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies.

While serving in Congress, Watson Coleman co-founded and co-chaired the Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls. She also co-founded and co-chaired the American 250 Caucus and served on the executive board of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Watson Coleman now serves on the Congressional Black Caucus, chairing the Health Nutrition and WellBeing Task Force. She serves on the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus; the Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Anti-Semitism; Congressional Labor Caucus; Congressional Medicare for All Caucus; the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues and the Congressional Voting Rights Caucus.

She said her congressional reelection campaign is focused on lowering the cost of living and “having access to healthcare and affordable medication, safety and security, eliminating artificial barriers and giving women their rights to make decisions about their body.”

“It’s basically quality of life and equity, these issues are at the forefront of people’s minds, in New Jersey, down in Washington and across the nation,” she said.

On the United States’ role in foreign conflicts, Watson Coleman said she has historically supported funding for Israel’s defensive capabilities, but she said she could not in good conscience vote to send further offensive weapons to the far-right Netanyahu government. She supports a two-state solution in the Israel-Palestine conflict. She said she supports Ukraine against Russian aggression.

Watson Coleman has been endorsed by multiple organizations, including the National Organization of Women, the Communications Workers of America, the AFL-CIO, the NJ Laborers Union, NJ Working Families Alliance, The Sierra Club, Garden State Equality and NJ Citizen Action.

Republican Darius Mayfield

Darius Mayfield was born and raised in Section 8 housing in New Brunswick. He described his early life as “humble beginnings”.

“We were on welfare, food stamps, New Brunswick was very different than it looks like now, it was very violent, very dangerous, but fortunately my mother was able to move us to South Brunswick,” Mayfield said.

He said in high school he joined the band and the chorus and experienced two different worlds. After high school, Mayfield worked in the auto industry, becoming the youngest sales manager ever in a top 25 auto group. In 2019, he became the first Black general manager in the third fastest-growing auto group in the U.S. Mayfield owns 4 companies: Be American Enterprises, Tunnell Contracting, BE American Consulting and Be American Productions. He describes himself as a self-made business strategist, a respected political commentator and visionary.

Mayfield, who said his motto is “Not Black. Not white. American,” said one big issue for his campaign is education choice, and if elected to Congress, he will work for school choice and quality education for everyone.

“But I also want to work on my state senators and assemblymen and women to make sure we get real educational reform in New Jersey so we can stay on top, where we’ve been for so long, and stop regressing, as we are right now,” he said.

He said he started the Darius Mayfield Foundation to bring quality education and school choice to under-served urban and rural communities all across this country.

He said his campaign is  focused on affordability and tax cuts “not just for small businesses but for middle class and even the lower class Americans.” Mayfield also pledged to work to strengthen the border with Mexico, to “stop the flood of illegal migrants coming into this country, and that also means we’re going to have to deport a significant amount of the ones that already reside here,” he said.

He said he does not believe that the federal government should play any role in women’s health, and he supports clean energy, but is not in favor of the government “picking industries to prop up.”

Mayfield supports helping American allies around the world, but said it is irresponsible to give them billions of dollars.

He said when he ran for Congress two years ago for the first time, he knocked on more than 6,000 doors. He continues with his outreach to residents in the 12th district.

“I think the mood of the country has changed quite a bit,” he said. “I’m seeing a lot of support in different areas that I didn’t see last time around.”

Mayfield has been endorsed by multiple organizations and individuals, including Moms for America, Congressman Jeff Van Drew, Stand for Health Freedom, Jack Ciattarelli, 2025 Republican gubernatorial candidate and the NJ Public Health Innovation PAC.

Libertarian Vic Kaplan

Vic Kaplan grew up in Union and Morris counties. He attended Centenary University, where he was a writer and editor of the school newspaper.

He said he now works as a lecturer, but has worked in a variety of fields, including sales and translation services.

Kaplan said if he’s elected, he will work to abolish the Federal Reserve and end all taxpayer-funded weapon sales and aid to foreign governments. He favors withdrawing from the United Nations, ending all federal immigration controls and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“I do not believe the federal government should have any control over the number of people that want to come to this country,” he said. “I do not find that in the Constitution, so I support getting the federal government out of the immigration area.”

He supports closing all overseas military bases and bringing U.S. troops home. He wants Americans to be able to file for financial bankruptcy because of student loan debt, and wants to work toward reducing the national debt through what he called targeted spending cuts.

He said he is in favor of a same-day voter registration system, and said he would work to make Election Day a national holiday.

Kaplan said he supports expanding the permitted use of gold and silver and other currencies to purchase goods and services.

“I believe that would reduce some of the income inequality that we have in this country,” he said. “When the federal government prints the money, the people at the very top get to spend the money first, and by the time the money gets to us, the money is worth less.”

Kaplan said he is running so that voters have another choice.

“I looked around, what is happening in the world and in the United States, and I felt that the issues that I take, I really couldn’t find anyone that exactly reflected the stances that I take on issues,” he said.

Kaplan said he considers himself a peace advocate, he opposes Russian aggression but is also against the U.S. government fueling the conflict in the Donbas region of Ukraine. He also opposes the war in Gaza.

Kaplan has been endorsed by the Libertarian Party.

Green Party Kim Meudt

Kim Meudt did not respond to a request by WHYY News for an interview.

She is a long-time resident of South Jersey residing in Bellmawr NJ and has worked in the healthcare field for over 20 years. She works as a medical assistant in a family practice office.

Meudt’s platform centers around “Medicare for all, education reform and free higher education for all, as well as reducing the Pentagon budget.” Meudt supports a ceasefire in Gaza and is also supporting a “real Green New Deal” that increases jobs, quality of life and reaches net zero emissions by 2035.

She said she served as a Nation Delegate and presently is a co-chair of the Green Party in New Jersey. She pledged to not take any corporate donations.

Meudt has been endorsed by the Green Party.