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Shavonda E. Sumter (born January 19, 1974) is an American Democratic Party politician who has represented the 35th Legislative District 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 ...
since taking office in January 2012. In February 2025, Sumter announced that she would not be running in the 2025 New Jersey General Assembly election.


Personal

Sumter was born in
Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Prospect Park, and Haledon. She graduated from Kean University in 1996 with a B.A. degree in political science. She earned an M.B.A. degree in health care administration from
Fairleigh Dickinson University Fairleigh Dickinson University () is a private university with its main campuses in New Jersey, located in Madison / Florham Park and in Teaneck / Hackensack. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University offers more than 100 degree prog ...
. Sumter has worked in health services and currently serves as director of behavioral health services at Mountainside Medical Center in Glen Ridge. Sumter has served on the New Jersey Democratic State Committee since 2008. She was one of the members of the
electoral college An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...
who cast a ballot for
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
and
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
after the 2008 presidential election. In 2010, Sumter was the campaign manager for Jeffery Jones in his successful campaign for Mayor of Paterson. As of September 2016, Sumter was considering a run for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2017, and was also considered the leading candidate for selection as the party's candidate for lieutenant governor. However, the eventual Democratic nominee for governor,
Phil Murphy Philip Dunton Murphy (born August 16, 1957) is an American politician, diplomat, and financier serving as the 56th governor of New Jersey since 2018. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was elected governor i ...
, chose Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver as his running mate. In 2024, following the death of Congressman Bill Pascrell, Sumter briefly campaigned to be the replacement Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives election for New Jersey's 9th congressional district, but eventually withdrew. A resident of North Haledon, she is married to Kenneth Sumter and has two children: Tyler (1998) and Kenneth Jr. (2000)


New Jersey General Assembly

In the 2011 New Jersey General Assembly election, there were two open Assembly seats in the 35th District, after Nellie Pou decided to run for the
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 ...
and Elease Evans retired. Sumter and her running mate, Benjie E. Wimberly, defeated the Republican candidates, William Connolly and Donna Puglisi. She was sworn in on January 10, 2012. She held the leadership positions in the Assembly of Majority Conference Leader from 2015 to 2019 and was Deputy Speaker from 2014 to 2015.


Committees

Committee assignments for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:Assemblywoman Shavonda E. Sumter (D)
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 28, 2024.
*Community Development and Women's Affairs (as chair) *Environment, Natural Resources, and Solid Waste (as vice-chair) *Labor


District 35

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 35th District for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:Legislative Roster for District 35
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 February 1, 2025.
* Senator Benjie Wimberly (D) * Assemblyman Al Abdelaziz (D) * Assemblywoman Shavonda E. Sumter (D)


Electoral history


References


External links


Assemblywoman Shavonda E. Sumter's legislative web page
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 ...

www.ShavondaSumter.com
* https://twitter.com/aswsumter {{DEFAULTSORT:Sumter, Shavonda E. 1974 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 2008 United States presidential electors African-American state legislators in New Jersey 21st-century African-American women politicians American hospital administrators Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Fairleigh Dickinson University alumni Kean University alumni Living people Politicians from Paterson, New Jersey Women state legislators in New Jersey 21st-century members of the New Jersey Legislature