An openly gay African-American and an Asian-American law enforcement official are New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s two new nominees to the now all-white state Supreme Court.
Christie announced the nominations of lawyers Bruce Harris and Phillip Kwon at a Statehouse news conference Monday.
Christie has two vacancies to fill on the court as of March 1.
Harris is the mayor of Chatham in Morris County. He would be the third African-American to be seated on the court and the first openly gay member. Kwon, a Korean-American, works in the Attorney General’s office and lives in Bergen County. He would be the first Asian-American on the high court.
The nominations need confirmation from the Democratic-controlled Senate.
The current court is made up of five women and two men, all of whom are white.
