MAPLEWOOD, New Jersey – Liberian-born Jane Collins-Colding has secured the Democratic nomination for the Maplewood Township Committee, profitable a carefully watched major race that units her on a transparent path to victory within the November normal election.
With all 21 districts reporting, Collins-Colding garnered 3,541 votes (63.45%), defeating her opponent Maxwell Jacob Kravitz, who obtained 2,040 votes (36.55%). No candidates contested the Republican major, making Collins-Colding the presumptive favourite within the fall election.
Following her victory, Collins-Colding expressed gratitude and a spirit of unity.
“I’m honored to have been chosen because the Democratic nominee for Township Committee, and I’m excited to look on the poll with different Democrats on this essential normal election,” she mentioned in a press release. “To those that didn’t vote for me, I hope to earn your belief. Congratulations to Max Kravitz for operating a powerful race. I vow to serve all residents of Maplewood, and I stay up for collaborating with the opposite members of the Township Committee to maintain Maplewood inexpensive, secure, and powerful.”
A Lifetime of Service
An entrepreneur, neighborhood organizer, and mom of 5—who has additionally fostered greater than 20 youngsters—Collins-Colding brings a legacy of compassion and management to her marketing campaign. For almost twenty years, she has lived within the South Orange-Maplewood (SOMA) neighborhood, the place her youngsters and foster youngsters have attended each faculty within the district. She has remained a devoted guardian and neighborhood participant, particularly at Tuscan, Montrose, and Maplewood Center Faculties.
Her service extends past her fast neighborhood. After Hurricane Sandy, she coordinated aid efforts with Morrow United Methodist Church, delivering meals to seniors. She additionally based Feed 2000, a nonprofit that fights starvation domestically and overseas. By the group, she has organized meals and toy donations for shelters like Turning Level in Irvington and Isaiah Home in East Orange, and helped ship faculty provides to youngsters in Africa, the place she additionally constructed a college that continues to serve college students at present.
Management and Civic Engagement
Collins-Colding is actively concerned in civic life. She serves as a District Chief on the Maplewood Democratic Committee, is a member of the Maplewood Senior Advisory Committee and the Hilton Neighborhood Affiliation, and is the Co-Founder and Chair of the New Jersey Black Empowerment Coalition (NJBEC). By NJBEC, she works with the Governor’s Workplace to broaden youth voting rights and reform parole insurance policies to cut back recidivism.
She additionally sits on the Steering Committee of the We The Individuals coalition and the Governance Committee of EQUIP NJ, each of which promote democracy and social justice statewide.
In 2024, Collins-Colding was instrumental in fundraising and get-out-the-vote efforts for Vice President Kamala Harris and different Democratic candidates.
A Imaginative and prescient for Maplewood
If elected in November, Collins-Colding pledges to carry an “ethic of service” to the Township Committee. At a current candidate discussion board hosted by the Hilton Neighborhood Affiliation, she emphasised her dedication to participating the neighborhood on contentious native points reminiscent of improvement, the way forward for the previous movie show website, and bike lanes.
She recognized affordability as a key precedence.
“I do know what it means to battle with rising taxes, utility payments, and housing prices,” she mentioned. “I’ll work to make sure Maplewood stays livable for households, seniors, and people on mounted incomes.”
Security can be on the forefront of her agenda. She helps expanded traffic-calming measures to guard youngsters and pedestrians, and reaffirmed her dedication to defending immigrant and LGBTQ+ residents from potential federal overreach.
A Chief for Difficult Instances
With potential federal funds cuts looming and progressive values below risk, Collins-Colding believes her expertise uniquely positions her to steer. She has raised over $1 million in nonprofit grants, managed advanced budgets, and has a confirmed historical past of mobilizing voters and advocating for weak communities.
“This can be a pivotal second for inclusive communities like Maplewood,” she mentioned. “We should defend our values, make investments correctly, and uplift each resident—particularly essentially the most weak.”
As Maplewood prepares for November’s normal election, Jane Collins-Colding’s victory within the Democratic major positions her as a formidable and community-rooted candidate able to carry imaginative and prescient and dedication to native authorities.
