Assemblyman Reed Gusciora is mulling a bid for Mayor of Trenton this spring, if incumbent Eric Jackson declines to seek re-election. The Trentonian was the first to break this story.
There has been speculation for weeks that Jackson doesn’t want a second term, and that talk expanded on Tuesday when the one-term mayor was a no-show at Gov. Phil Murphy’s inauguration.
Gusciora was on a PoliticsDW short list of potential candidates for mayor last week. Others include: Councilwoman Verlina Reynolds Jackson, the Mercer County Democratic Chair; Councilman Alex Bethea; and businessman Paul Perez, who lost to Jackson four years ago.
Trentonian added new names: Deputy Mercer County Clerk Walker Worthy, who ran in 2014 with the endorsement of Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman; Trenton Councilmen Zachary Chester and Duncan Harris, former Councilwoman Annette Lartigue, and Trentonian columnist L.A. Parker.
Democrats are currently trying to figure out who gets the Assembly seat of Elizabeth Muoio (D-Pennington), assuming the Senate confirms her as Gov. Phil Murphy’s State Treasurer. If Gusciora were to win the race for mayor, Democrats would have a second opening in the 15th district. There had also been some thought that Gusciora was interested in serving as a Superior Court Judge, but there are presently no vacancies in Mercer County.
Gusciora, 57, was first elected to the State Assembly in 1995, after working on the staff of an Oklahoma congressman and on Barbara Boggs Sigmund’s campaign for Governor. He ran for Congress in 2000, and for Mayor of Princeton in 2003. He became an iconic figure among Democrats when Gov. Chris Christie referred to him as “numbnuts.”
Gusciora has $36,000 cash on hand, according to his last ELEC report.
The filing deadline is in March and the election is in May.