Democrat,

On Thursday night in Asbury Park I was given the tremendous honor of being elected as Chair of our New Jersey Democratric State Committee, succeeding my friend and mentor Chairman John Currie. I’m so grateful to have this opportunity to lead our party forward along with the most diverse Executive Committee team in our history. 

Many of you already know me as Essex County Democratic Chairman and as an elected official  but I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself again to all of you and let you know a little more about who I am, what motivates me and what values I will bring to our Democratic State Committee. Watch this video to hear from me about how we got here and where the future will take us.

I got my start in politics at the age of 10 handing out literature for a mayoral candidate in my parents’ home town of Orange. I’ve always been an organizer and a consensus builder, and I will bring those sensibilities to the NJDSC because we know that the things that unite us as a party are greater than our differences. And we know how critical it is to come together and fight for the values we share. 

This is a momentous time in our history. The George Floyd tragedy last year showed all of us how important it is to come together and fight for social justice. The global COVID pandemic reminded us how important it is to elect leaders who follow the science. We have congressional and legislative redistricting coming up in a few months, which will affect our representation for the next decade. We have Governor Phil Murphy and Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver on the ballot in November, along with state legislators and local and county officials all over the state. We have a rising tide of right wing extremism that threatens everything we hold dear. 

All of that means one thing to me — that we must come together, continue building our Democratic Party and keep doing the work that is needed to deliver the positive change that New Jersey deserves. 

As your Chairman, my door will always be open and you will see me in your communities as we work together to elect Democrats from Cape May to High Point, from the Palisades to the Delaware, and everywhere in between. We will work together with the grassroots advocates pushing us forward, as well as with the elected leaders who work hard for us each and every day. We will push for greater diversity in our political systems and ensure that there are more representative voices at the table. We will act with faith, with persistence, with courage and with strength to fight for our values and move our party forward. 

I hope you are as excited as I am to begin this new chapter in our shared history. I hope to speak to you soon. Thank you. 

Thank you,

-- Chairman LeRoy Jones