A New Jersey mayor made an announcement that no one saw coming, a decision she said she came to after talking with her daughters — and after the shooting death of a lawmaker friend that shook her city.
It's been almost three months since Sayreville City Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour was shot and killed outside her home in February by a gunman who ambushed her in her car. The case remains unsolved and the brutal attack sent shockwaves throughout the community.
That includes the Mayor of Sayreville, Victoria Kilpatrick. She has spent the last 10 years serving on the borough’s council, the last three of which have been as mayor.
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She said Dwumfour was a personal friend of hers. That's why she cites a hate letter sent to her following Dwumfour's death as a reason she is dropping out of public service, at least for now.
"I’m calling this my pause. I have to pause because there’s nothing more important than my children and than my family," Kilpatrick told NBC New York.
The letter she received lumping the governing body in with Dwumfour was the tipping point for Kilpatrick, who paraphrased the letter's contents.
"More of you crooked, corrupt, 'insert racial slur' politicians either need to follow, should follow or I can’t wait until more of you are," she said of the letter's contents.
She was in tears at times when she made her dramatic announcement that she wouldn’t run again at a council meeting earlier in April.
"It’s a hard decision to make because I believe so passionately in this town, but I love my family more than anything in the world," she said.
The local Democratic Party had already withdrawn its endorsement of her in a bit of local politics, but she could have run as an independent. For now though, she’s done with public service of any kind due in part to her two teenage daughters.
"They said 'Mommy, we don’t want you to do this anymore right now.' Mom listens. And I have to care for them before I care for others," Kilpatrick said.
Her advice to others serving in public office: Make your own decision and base it on your own balance between desire to do good versus the level of hate and threats you face.
