In addition to being our official launch, yesterday was New Jersey’s primary election day. Dems for Ed Reform worked with Newark Mayor Cory Booker to support six pro-reform challengers to incumbent legislators – four Assemblymen and two Senators. Historically, incumbents in New Jersey are considered invulnerable, especially in their primaries. But Cory convinced us that this pattern could be broken, and DFER members contributed more than a quarter of the total cost of the campaigns.
Late last night, when the votes were in, we learned that our slate had won five of the six seats, some by only a few votes. This is an unprecedented result, and it means that Cory Booker and education reform have an important block of support in the state legislature now, support that will be crucial as Cory begins to make revolutionary changes in Newark.