Shavonda E. Sumter (born January 19, 1974) is an American

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician who has represented the

35th Legislative District Military units *35th Fighter Wing, an air combat unit of the United States Air Force *35th Infantry Division (United States), a formation of the National Guard since World War I *35th Infantry Regiment (United States), a regiment created on 1 July 1 ...

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.

Personal

Sumter was born in Paterson, New Jersey, the daughter of Charles and Bonnie Williams. She attended public and private schools in Paterson, Prospect Park, and

Haledon Haledon ( ) is a borough in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 9,052, an increase of 734 (+8.8%) from the 2010 census count of 8,318, which in turn reflected an in ...

. She graduated from Kean University in 1996 with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in political science. She earned an

M.B.A. A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as account ...

degree in health care administration from

Fairleigh Dickinson University Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...

. 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 The New Jersey Democratic State Committee (NJDSC) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of New Jersey. LeRoy J. Jones Jr. is the chair and Peg Schaffer is the vice chair. Structure The NJDSC has a 13-member executive commit ...

since 2008.Assemblywoman Shavonda E. Sumter (D)
New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 25, 2022. She was one of the members of the electoral college who cast a ballot for

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

and Joe Biden after the 2008 presidential election. In 2010, Sumter was the campaign manager for Jeffery Jones in his successful campaign for

Mayor of Paterson In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

. 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 financier, diplomat, and politician serving as the 56th governor of New Jersey since January 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the United States ambassador to Germa ...

, chose Assemblywoman

Sheila Oliver Sheila Y. Oliver (born July 14, 1952) is an American politician serving as the second lieutenant governor of New Jersey since 2018. She previously served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2004 to 2018, where she represented the 34th legi ...

as his running mate. A resident of Paterson, she is married to Kenneth Sumter and has two children: Tyler (1998) and Kenneth Jr. (2000)

New Jersey General Assembly

In the 2011 legislative elections, there were two open Assembly seats in the 35th District, after Nellie Pou decided to run for the

State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

and

Elease Evans Elease Evans (born June 6, 1943) is an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from November 2007 until January 2012, representing the 35th legislative district. Evans held a seat that was vacated by f ...

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 current session are: *Community Development and Affairs, Chair *Commerce and Economic Development *Labor

District 35

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the

. The representatives from the 35th District for the 2022—23 Legislative Session are:Legislative Roster for District 35
New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 11, 2022. * Senator Nellie Pou (D) * Assemblywoman Shavonda E. Sumter (D) * Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly (D)

References

External links

Assemblywoman Shavonda E. Sumter's legislative web page
New Jersey Legislature
www.ShavondaSumter.com
* https://twitter.com/aswsumter {{DEFAULTSORT:Sumter, Shavonda E. 1974 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians African-American state legislators in New Jersey African-American women in politics Fairleigh Dickinson University alumni American hospital administrators Kean University alumni Living people Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Politicians from Paterson, New Jersey 2008 United States presidential electors Women state legislators in New Jersey 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women