Sandra Bolden Cunningham
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Sandra Bolden Cunningham (born September 4, 1950) is an American Democratic Party politician, who served in the
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...
from 2007 to 2024, where she represented the 31st Legislative District. She was sworn into office on November 8, 2007. She is the widow of former
Jersey City Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous
Mayor Glenn Cunningham, who died in 2004.


Early life and education

Sandra Bolden was born on September 4, 1950, and was raised in Newark. She graduated from West Side High School and received a B.A. from
Bloomfield College Bloomfield College of Montclair State University is a public college in Bloomfield, New Jersey, Bloomfield, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is chartered by the State of New Jersey and Higher education accreditation in the United States, accre ...
with a major in liberal arts.


Early career

Bolden was an actress and was a part of the
Negro Ensemble Company The Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) is a New York City-based theater company and workshop established in 1967 by producer-actor Robert Hooks, playwright Douglas Turner Ward, and theater manager Gerald S. Krone, with funding from the Ford Foundatio ...
. She became the executive of the
Hudson County Hudson County is a List of counties in New Jersey, county in the U.S. state of New Jersey, its smallest and most densely populated. Lying in the northeast of the state and on the west bank of the North River (Hudson River), Hudson River, the No ...
Bar Association in 1988 after working various county jobs in Essex County.


Political career

Following her husband's death, there were reports of interest by Cunningham to seek her late husband's Senate seat to which he was elected in 2003 and was reported to be considering a run for Mayor of Jersey City in a May 2005 special election. She became president of the Sandra and Glenn Cunningham Foundation and has supported causes in Jersey City through the foundation. In 2006 signs in Jersey City touted her as a candidate for the
U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...
vs. Sen. Robert Menendez and State Sen. Tom Kean Jr. Menendez and her late husband were bitter political rivals. She did not seek the U.S. Senate seat and announced her candidacy for the state senate in the Democratic primary against Sen. Joseph Doria in 2007. Doria, the mayor of
Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...
, dropped out of the race in March 2007. Assemblyman
Louis Manzo Louis Manzo (born February 28, 1955, in Jersey City, New Jersey) is an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2004 to 2008, where he represented the New Jersey L ...
, who first won his seat on a ticket with Mayor Cunningham, challenged Cunningham in the Democratic primary for the Senate. During the primary race, Cunningham received the support of the Hudson County Democratic Organization and Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who had previously opposed her and her late husband. One of Cunningham's running mates for the Assembly was former State Sen. L. Harvey Smith, who had been defeated by her husband in a bitter 2003 Senate primary. Cunningham defeated Assemblyman Manzo in the Democratic primary in June 2007. She was virtually unopposed in the November general election, defeating independent candidate Louis Vernotico with over 87% of the vote. Following Doria's October 2007 resignation to become Commissioner of the
New Jersey Department of Community Affairs The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Function The NJDCA provides "administrative guidance, financial support, and technical assistance to local governments, community develop ...
, Cunningham was elected on October 23, 2007, by a special election convention to serve the remainder of Doria's term, which expired in January 2008. Cunningham served the remainder of Doria's term before beginning her own four-year term and was sworn into the state senate on November 8, 2007. In the Senate, she had been assigned to serve as chair of the Higher Education; she also at on the Budget and Appropriations Committee and Labor Committee. She had been the Senate majority whip since 2008.Senator Cunningham's legislative webpage
New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and ...
. Accessed January 24, 2022.
In 2012, ''
The Hudson Reporter ''The Hudson Reporter'' was a newspaper chain based in Hudson County, New Jersey mainly focus on local politics and community news. The oldest newspaper in the chain was the ''Hoboken Reporter'', founded in 1983. The chain stopped publication on ...
'' named her #6 in its list of Hudson County's 50 most influential people, with North Bergen mayor and State Senator Nicholas Sacco ranked first on the list. Following a prolonged illness in 2022-2023, Cunningham announced that she would not run for reelection in 2023 and would retire from the Senate.


District 31

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the
New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate is the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232,225 (2020 figure ...
and two members in the
New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...
. The representatives from the 31st District for the 2022—23 Legislative Session are:Legislative Roster for District 31
New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and ...
. Accessed January 11, 2022.
*Senator Sandra Bolden Cunningham *Assemblywoman Angela V. McKnight *Assemblyman William Sampson


Personal life


Spouse

Sandra Cunningham began dating
Jersey City Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous
police officer and councilman Glenn Cunningham in 1990 and got married on January 7, 1998, in Nassau,
Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...
. While Glenn Cunningham was campaigning for and later won the Jersey City mayoral election in 2001, Sandra Cunningham often accompanied her husband at public events and political meetings. Glenn Cunningham died on May 25, 2004, of a heart attack.


DWI Incidents

In 2006, Cunningham pled guilty to operating a vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The 2006 guilty plea stemmed from a ticketed incident in November 2005. During the incident, she had a
blood alcohol concentration Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is a measurement of alcohol intoxication used for legal or medical purposes. BAC is expressed as mass of alcohol per volume of blood. In US and many i ...
of .18, according to public records. She paid a $708 fine. In March 2021, Cunningham was charged for
driving while intoxicated Driving under the influence (DUI) is the crime of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while one is impaired from doing so safely by the effect of either alcohol (see drunk driving) or some other drug, whether recreational or ...
after sideswiping two cars parked near her home with her Infiniti G35x. On 3 June 2021, Cunningham plead not guilty to the DWI and careless driving charges; the case is currently pending trial and discovery. If found guilty, Cunningham could face "from 2 to 90 days in jail and a one year loss of her driver’s license."


Election history


References


External links


Senator Cunningham's legislative webpage
New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and ...
*''New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms''
201120102009200820072006Senate campaign website
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Sandra Bolden 1950 births 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American women politicians 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century American women politicians African-American state legislators in New Jersey 21st-century African-American women politicians Bloomfield College alumni Democratic Party New Jersey state senators Living people Politicians from Jersey City, New Jersey Politicians from Newark, New Jersey West Side High School (New Jersey) alumni Women state legislators in New Jersey 21st-century members of the New Jersey Legislature