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ovrture
RUN FOR OFFICE
CASTING
Kadja Manuel
31 yrs.
Trenton City Council,
At Large
Trenton, NJ
Party: Democrat
DATES
CAUCUS: N/A
PRIMARY: June 7th
OCCUPATION
Community Engagement Manager
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"No one would've thought in a million years that someone in my shoes would be running for office. I used to go from couch to couch and walk these same streets that I'm now advocating and registering people to vote on."
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Coming from a large blended family, Kadja is the oldest of 14 siblings. He is of African-American and Puerto Rican heritage. Until he graduated from high school, he had never lived in a house that had fewer than seven or eight people in it. The struggles he faced growing up made him different than most politicians in Trenton and in New Jersey. He can identify with the struggles of many people in this area.
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Although this is a nonpartisan election in a very partisan town, he is a registered Democrat who describes himself as very progressive. Even though New Jersey is a blue state, he considers it "1990's blue." They are not as progressive as he thinks they should be, and even have, arguably, the most segregated school districts in the US.
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He is a Veteran of the US Army and has completed several deployments overseas. He is currently working as Community Engagement Manager for Garden State Equality.
LOCAL
Husband
Tom Ciszak
Political Director
Dan Stinger
Dan met Kadja when he asked him to speak at a fundraising event when he himself was running for office. He and his wife became great friends with Kadja and when he decided to run, Dan wanted to help him as much as possible. Dan is using his own experience in running a campaign to help guide Kadja to a successful victory.
Tom met Kadja right before the pandemic. He was instantly attracted to his genuine nature and shining personality. Although he doesn't have a history in politics or activism, Tom has always encouraged Kadja in anything he wanted to do. He feels that this campaign is a fitting next step for his husband.
Best Friend
Brandy Gibbons
Brandy is one of Kadja's oldest and dearest friends. She has known for a long time that Kadja was destined for big things. She hopes to help him in any way possible in this campaign and plans on knocking doors to help get the word out.