After representing New Jersey’s 12th District in the House of Representatives for a decade, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman announced Nov. 10 that she will not seek re-election.
Watson Coleman departs after a tumultuous year for the University’s relationship with the federal government, as well as several federal immigration raids in the town of Princeton. In an exclusive interview with The Daily Princetonian, Watson Coleman discussed her long-term relationship with both the municipality of Princeton and the University.
Following ICE raids in town that detained at least 15 people over the summer, Watson Coleman met with local and University officials, including Mayor Mark Freda and University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83, to discuss the local response.
“I think the whole notion of masked, fatigued and armed people in cities where people are just going to work, being a part of the community, is absolutely abhorrent,” Watson Coleman told the ‘Prince.’ “These are human beings, and they’re being treated as less than human beings, because this administration has very little value for people who are not wealthy and white.”
Watson Coleman has previously spoken with Eisgruber regarding his advocacy work against the Trump administration’s policies targeting universities. Eisgruber has been a frequent critic of the administration’s suspensions of research grants as well as the endowment tax increase passed by Congress.
“I had the opportunity to thank him for standing up [to the Trump administration],” Watson Coleman said. “Of course, a number of us have expressed our dismay and concern with what this administration has done to universities and even to the media, and we are proud of those who stand up to him and say that they will not be compromised because of his ill-thought concepts of what DEI means.”
During her time in Congress, the progressive Watson Coleman advocated for a wide variety of causes, including universal basic income and environmental issues.
“The common thread is equity at every level in any of the categories that I dealt with,” she said.
Watson Coleman plans to continue her advocacy work, and especially intends to focus on criminal justice reform, which was a key issue for her during her time in the New Jersey State Legislature from 1998 to 2015. But she admitted that passing legislation was more difficult in Congress, in part to increasing difficulty to achieve bipartisan consensus.
“[Bipartisanship] decreased, and it’s a shame, because we did have relationships, and we were able to work with people in the other party to get things done,” she told the ‘Prince.’ “We had some mutuality of interests and concerns, but Congress has sort of abrogated its responsibility and its authority to the president, so there is very little to collaborate on.”
However, she said that she remained hopeful that bipartisan unity could increase in coming years. “I’m hopeful that we [will] see more Republicans standing up and pushing back on issues, because we think that there’s greater attention to issues affecting the quality of life and cost of life for people in their in their districts, and those people are reaching out and saying what’re concerned about,” she said.
At 80, she is the oldest member of New Jersey’s congressional delegation. Watson Coleman was the first Black woman to represent New Jersey in the House.
Watson Coleman hopes her constituents will recall “that I have been consistent, and I have been outspoken on things that may not have been very popular.” She referenced her early support for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, joining 12 other progressives on Oct. 16, 2023.
“So I hope people think, ‘she was never afraid to speak her truth,’” she said.
Emily Murphy is a News contributor and staff Copy editor for the ‘Prince’ from New York. She can be reached at emily.murphy[at]princeton.edu.
Leela Hensler is a staff News writer and contributing Sports writer for the ‘Prince’ from Berkeley, Calif. She can be reached at leela[at]princeton.edu.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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