PERSON: Bonnie Watson Coleman

U.S. House of Representatives

Member of Congress

Bonnie M. Watson Coleman (born February 6, 1945) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New Jersey’s 12th congressional district since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1998 to 2015 for the 15th legislative district. She is the first African-American woman to represent New Jersey in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Watson Coleman was born in Camden, New Jersey, and attended Rutgers University before receiving a B.A. from Thomas Edison State College in 1985. She began her career in the New Jersey state government, working for the New Jersey State Division on Civil Rights and later serving as director of the Office of Civil Rights, Contract Compliance and Affirmative Action in the New Jersey Department of Transportation. In the New Jersey General Assembly, she held the position of Majority Leader from 2006 to 2010.

In 2014, Watson Coleman ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in New Jersey’s 12th congressional district to succeed retiring Representative Rush Holt. She won the Democratic primary and later the general election, becoming the first African-American woman elected to represent a New Jersey district in Congress. In the House, she is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus, among other caucuses. She co-founded the Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls in 2016, as well as the America 250 Caucus to help plan activities for America’s semi quincentennial commemoration in 2026.

In the assembly, Watson Coleman’s legislative work included criminal justice reform, expanding Urban Enterprise Zones, and expanding paid family leave. In Congress, she introduced the CROWN Act to prohibit hair discrimination and has sponsored other anti-discrimination legislation. She has pursued criminal justice reform through legislation on banning contracts to private prisons and worked to expand health coverage for pregnant women with the Affordable Care Act. Watson Coleman has co-sponsored a ceasefire resolution in response to the Israel-Hamas War.

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