Shanique Davis Speight (born November 14, 1978) is an American Democratic Party politicians who represents the 29th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly since 2018,[2] succeeding Blonnie R. Watson, who chose not to run for reelection.
[2][1] After Donald Payne Jr. vacated his at-large seat on the Newark City Council after being elected to succeed his father in Congress, Speight was nominated by Mayor Cory Booker at a contentious November 2012 council meeting and sworn in to fill Payne's vacant seat, resulting in what The Star-Ledger described as a "near-riot".
[5] In December 2012, a New Jersey Superior Court judge ruled that Booker did not have the power to cast a deciding vote under the circumstances that prevailed at the meeting in question, forcing Speight to vacate the seat.
[6][7] In July 2013, the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division affirmed the decision that Booker did not have the authority to vote to nominate Speight; a special election to fill the vacant seat was to be held in November 2013, with the council left in a four-four deadlock on the nine-member council until the seat would be filled.
[8] In the November 2017 general election, with Blonnie Watson not seeking re-election, Speight (with 18,308 votes; 43.0% of all ballots cast) and her running mate, incumbent Eliana Pintor Marin (with 19,088; 44.8%), defeated Republican challengers Charles G. Hood (2,622; 6.2%) and Jeannette Veras (2,574; 6.0%) to win both Assembly seats from the district for the Democrats.