South Orange Mayor Named As Steven Fulop’s Running Mate: 2025 Election

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Steven Fulop has named South Orange Mayor Sheena Collum as his running mate in the 2025 election for governor of New Jersey.

Fulop, the mayor of Jersey City, announced Collum as his lieutenant governor choice at a news conference on Wednesday (watch footage below, or view it online here).

Fulop – who is running as a Democrat in the upcoming primary election – called Collum “one of the most respected and forward-thinking local leaders in New Jersey.”

“Elected at just 31, she’s now the longest-serving woman mayor in Essex County,” he wrote in a campaign mailer. “She’s led on everything from economic development and affordable housing to sustainability and public safety, delivering more than half a billion dollars in investment that puts community first.”

According to the Fulop campaign, Collum has broken ground as the first female mayor of South Orange. She has since been reelected three times, and now holds the distinction of being the longest-serving Korean American mayor in New Jersey.

Here is some additional background about Collum, according to the municipal website:

“Professionally, Sheena is the executive director of the American Planning Association-New Jersey chapter, a statewide planning organization whose mission is to help build stronger communities and provide more choices for how people work and live while meeting the challenges of both growth and change. In her role, Sheena works regularly with local and state officials, professional and nonprofit organizations, and state and federal agencies on arrange of public policy issues affecting New Jersey’s municipalities including smart growth, state and regional planning, transportation, public health, sustainability, economic development, redevelopment and affordable housing. Sheena is a proud alumnus of Seton Hall University, where she graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public administration with a concentration in public policy.”

Fulop offered praise for Collum’s qualifications – and willingness to speak out.

“For me, it was about somebody that has experience, somebody that's willing to speak his or her mind, somebody that's willing to go against the grain, somebody that's opinionated – that isn't only going to agree with you – somebody that would be good counsel, somebody that would be pleasant to spend a lot of time with… and I think I found somebody that checked all of those boxes,” he said.

Collum outlined some of her campaign priorities at Wednesday’s news conference. They included “inefficiency in government,” housing reform/development and public transportation. She also promoted shared services among local governments and boards in the name of saving taxpayer money.

“I don't want to see 564 micro utilities for storm water management,” Collum said. “I see regional opportunities for partnership and cost savings: Northeast, Northwest, Central, Southern, Southern Shore.”

“Here in South Orange, I fought for my political life to partner with Maplewood to have a significant consolidation of our fire departments,” she continued. “And even when you think about fire departments, I have homes that are literally closer to West Orange, and homes that are closer to Irvington, homes that are closer to the City of Orange – there are so many opportunities.”

“We're going to have to reimagine a lot of stuff and what these public partnerships look like, or else you're going to see a lot of privatization start happening in New Jersey – unless government can do things better, faster, with a more optimized cost,” Collum said.

• See Related: South Orange Water Privatization Takes Big Step Forward

Another priority? The state budget, Collum said.

“Everybody should be worried about the state budget right now, and even in South Orange, even with our board of education, as we started this budget at a 5 percent increase before doing anything municipal whatsoever,” Collum said.

“Our school district is looking at shutting down a school, I kid you not, because they are not guaranteed the funding that they need,” she added.

• Read More: More Taxes, Big Spending (5 Takeaways From Murphy’s Final Budget)
• Read More: Republicans Criticize Proposed NJ Budget: ‘Anything But Affordable’
• Read More: Protesters Rally In Essex County Against Potential State Budget Cuts

South Orange’s mayor didn’t mince words when it comes to President Donald Trump and the ongoing controversies with the federal government.

“We need to build the biggest and best team to fight the Trump administration,” Collum said. “This, to me, is very personal – and I'm speaking to independent, unaffiliated voters – this moment comes around once in a lifetime where the threat is so big that it just scares you at your core.”

“I am 100 percent convinced that the people of New Jersey are caring and they are compassionate and they're empathetic, and when they see that the rights of people less vulnerable are being taken away, they're going to stand up … they're going to rise up,” she said.

• See Related: 25 Hours, 5 Minutes: What To Know About Cory Booker’s Record-Setting Speech

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