NJ Congress Candidate, Trump Supporter Attended Jan. 6 Protest: Report

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A Congressional candidate in New Jersey can’t seem to shake his association with the now-infamous 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. – even as he seeks election to the office he once protested against, a report says.

Joe Belnome, a Newark native and Belleville resident who works as a building inspector in the township, is among the candidates running for a House seat in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District in the 2024 primary election. The district includes towns in Essex, Morris and Passaic counties, where Belnome has secured the endorsements of all three county Republican committees.

Belnome was among the thousands of Donald Trump supporters who marched to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 in protest of Joe Biden’s electoral victory over the former president, NJ Advance Media reported earlier this week.

Belnome said he “peacefully marched” that day and wasn’t one of the people who breached the building. He added that he hasn’t been charged with a crime, and said his attendance at the Capitol protest isn’t “breaking news,” since his opponents brought it up when he ran for state Senate last year, NJ Advance Media reported. Read the full article here.

Belnome ran as a Republican against New Jersey Sen. Britnee Timberlake in the 2023 general election, losing by a margin of more than 3 to 1.

The Congressional candidate hasn’t been shy about his support for Trump, once saying that going to a rally for the former president felt like taking a “vacation.” Some of his campaign platform planks overlap with Trump’s, including immigration, “medical freedom” from pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates, and concerns about “election security.”

Another Belleville resident, Raafat Barsoom, is also running for the Republican nomination in NJ-11 this year. See Related: Doctor From Belleville Is Running For Congress Against Mikie Sherrill

A third candidate – John Sauers – is also seeking the Republican nomination in the 2024 primary election. Candidates seeking the Democratic nomination include Sherrill and Mark DeLotto.

The 11th District includes the following municipalities:

• Essex County – Belleville, Bloomfield, Cedar Grove, Fairfield, Glen Ridge, Livingston, Maplewood, Millburn, Montclair (part), North Caldwell, Nutley, Roseland, South Orange, West Caldwell
• Morris County – Boonton, Boonton Township, Butler, Chatham, Chatham Township, Denville, Dover, East Hanover, Florham Park, Hanover, Harding, Jefferson, Kinnelon, Lincoln Park, Madison, Mendham Twp (part), Montville, Morris Plains, Morris Township, Morristown Town, Mountain Lakes, Parsippany-Troy Hills, Pequannock, Randolph, Riverdale, Rockaway, Rockaway Township, Victory Gardens
• Passaic County – Little Falls, Totowa, Wayne (part), Woodland Park

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