Rayfield Morton

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Rayfield Morton

Creating Real Progress

Elections and appointments

Last election

September 18, 2024

Education

High school

Orange High School

Associates

DeVry University

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Air Force

Years of service

1972 - 1974

Personal

Birthplace

New Jersey

Religion

Born Again Christian

Profession

Accounting

Contact

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Rayfield Morton (Creating Real Progress) ran in a special election to the U.S. House to represent New Jersey's 10th Congressional District. He lost in the special general election on September 18, 2024.

Morton completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Rayfield Morton was born in New Jersey. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1972 to 1974. He earned an associate degree from DeVry University. His career experience includes working in accounting and fashion development for men and women. He has been affiliated with Rayfield Morton Unlimited Productions, Inc. and Art's on the Move, Inc.

Elections

2024

See also: New Jersey's 10th Congressional District special election, 2024

General election

Special general election for U.S. House New Jersey District 10

LaMonica McIver defeated Carmen Bucco, Russell Jenkins, and Rayfield Morton in the special general election for U.S. House New Jersey District 10 on September 18, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		LaMonica McIver (D)	81.4	27,402
		Carmen Bucco (R)	15.6	5,258
		Russell Jenkins (One for All)	1.6	530
		Rayfield Morton (Creating Real Progress)	1.4	476

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 33,666
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Special Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 10

The following candidates ran in the special Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 10 on July 16, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		LaMonica McIver	47.4	12,507
		Derek Armstead	13.6	3,596
		Jerry Walker	9.7	2,568
	Submit photo	Darryl Godfrey	6.9	1,815
		Brittany Claybrooks	5.2	1,377
	Submit photo	Shana Melius	4.5	1,196
		Sheila Montague	3.7	966
		Alberta Gordon	2.9	756
		John J. Flora	2.6	684
		Eugene Mazo	2.2	586
	Submit photo	Debra Salters	1.2	316

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 26,367
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Special Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 10

Carmen Bucco advanced from the special Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 10 on July 16, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Carmen Bucco	100.0	2,015

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,015
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Morton in this election.

2013

See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2013

Morton ran in the 2013 election for New Jersey General Assembly District 34. Morton was bracketed with Anthony Moye and defeated by Sheila Y. Oliver, Thomas P. Giblin, Denise Baskerville, Anthony Moye, Beverly K. Williams and Clenard H. Childress, Jr. in the June 4 Democratic primary. The general election took place on November 5, 2013.

New Jersey General Assembly, District 34, Democratic Primary, 2013
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Sheila Oliver Incumbent	37%	10,820
Thomas Giblin Incumbent	33.6%	9,808
Denise Baskerville	10.3%	2,996
Beverly Williams	9.6%	2,797
Rayfield Morton	4.5%	1,303
Anthony Moye	4.2%	1,240
Clenard Childress	0.9%	264
Total Votes		29,228

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Rayfield Morton completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Morton's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

As a young boy I was always the leader of my friends even though I did not realize that I had such ability. They would always say, "Ray how should we approach this situation?" and I would always have an answer for them. By the time I was 11 I totally believed in myself and started my own basketball team. Playing with my buddies for several years winning several championships inspired me to try my luck in starting my own singing group. We performed in several local shows and actually got a chance to perform a famous Newark Symphony Hall. This is when I got inspired to start a program that would help hundreds of inter City kids. It was placed in my heart to help these poor young children, lost for direction, so I created my very first program, "Arts On The Move." Students from 5 to 18 years of age, helping them to find their purpose as an individual. We have helped hundreds of young students, and this program still exist today. Over 45 years of positivity, strengthening our unfortunate children and show casing them in their natural talents. All our students perform each and every year, in our annual show, and we send our 4 top students with the highest scores, for a 5-day trip to Disney World. After 25 years of being the director and CEO of this business the City of Orange approached me to be a part of the Mayor's Alliance Program, and this was the start of my political career. I love helping people!

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Abortion rights for women! Government leaders shouldn't have the right to tell a woman what to do with her body? This doesn't mean the government need to financially support a woman's choice. however, we are to leave their decisions to them.
• Social Security. People have worked hard to support their families. The idea of our leaders trying to stop hard working citizens from what is rightfully theirs is criminal. It's time to stand for and be a voice for the people. In order for America to move forward, separation, robbing from the weak and not helping those that place us in office must change.
• Providing a better economy. It's time to place blame where blame should be. In order to fix our economy, we must stop prices from going up on food, gas and so much more. The cost of living, wages must be increased yearly by more than 3% on a yearly basis. No person should go to bed hungry. We are all in this together. We should turn the back the times and create an educational course in our school system to teach children how to grow food, banking and the art of buying stock.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am personally passionate about making our streets safe for everyone. In order to do so, we must put policies in place that would improve training and communication skills for our police and fire department employees. These policies should include counselling sessions quarterly which can add group and individual sessions. The mental health of our employees is key. Placing a policy in order to provide citizens with bereavement counselling if them or a loved one are harmed mentally or physically by our government employees may help with healing that a person will need to recover.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

A book or movie I would recommend is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He represents the people. He wanted all mankind no matter the color of skin to live in harmony, have healthier, happier lives. Instead of those of influence using their power to unite and care for the needs of others, they used their power to cause kaos, hurt people and cause division. Dr. Kings story shows the good and bad. It shows the truth and lies of government. It shows the strength of numbers.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honesty and a sincere heart for the good of the people are the characteristics I believe an elected official must hold. It's important to whole heartly stand up for the people. We as elected officials can no longer look for personal gain. We can no longer keep pushing what the people need under the rugs or to the side. We have to be about the people.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

"Growing up, one of my strongest characteristics was to know when to go home". As a young boy with a very strong mother, it was instilled in me to know when to go home. I was raised in the projects of Orange, New Jersey. We had our problems with our streets, leading our children to drugs, alcohol drinking, sex, crime and teaching youngsters that you did not need a good education as long as you knew how to work the streets. Children in their teens were very impressed with the bling, nice cars and plenty of cash. This made it very hard to compete with the streets. I knew there had to be a better way. I came up with my first program, " Art's on the Move". This program would help children that lived in poverty understand that even though you may start last, doesn't mean you can't come in first. Looking back at my life I did my best to stay out of trouble and be a good person, which lead me to so many wonderful opportunities. The program I developed would find out what the students had interest in and lead them in them in that direction. Every person has a dream to be something great. Once they feel you helping them in their craft you become a friend and eventually, they start believing in you which allowed us to turn them around. The program ran for over thirty years. It began at the Wilson Place projects, until Mayor Mims Hackett got in touch with me and offered to sponsor Arts on the Move through his alliance program with the city. The program served and loved hundreds of students through the years. I realized how satisfying it is to help others escape all the nonsense that we deal with in this country. As a young child I developed this need to want to be a bandage for the bleeding. Thanks to the Mayor I was able to reach my goals, serving on the budget, zoning and Council boards. This is why I'd be a successful officeholder. Most people want a title for fame and fortune. Some truly have a heart to serve.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

As an elected official appointed to this office, I feel it is important to relate to the people. It's important to know the problems in each county I represent in order to put a plan in place to assist the people, their families and businesses. You cannot improve anything if you do not have the knowledge of what's going on. Anyone sitting in this seat should be ready to become a detective, a solutionist and an advocate for better.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

I believe that the ideal relationship is to unite as one force to put in place laws customized to keep order and balance. This relationship will allow government and state legislature to openly hear and hopefully come to an understanding of the type of legislation that will value the areas they govern.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

I believe the greatest challenges will be to obtain grants and funding in order to reconstruct each county according to their needs. This will include improving our schools, fire departments and police departments and parks up to standards in order to keep our counties safer and environments healthier.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

It's always good to have a fresh mind in government. A person can have life's experiences as well as government experience in order to make a positive change in the lives of others.

What committees interest you?

The committees that interest me are education, health care, recreation, women's rights, senior living, budget and zoning board. Each would give great attention to the improvement of life for the people. Adding citizens to these committees would help elected officials, gain knowledge of what the people seek and how we may be able to come together as one force to rectify most if not all matters.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

Having proper accountability, paper trails and banking statements have to be properly entered and must be listed on a web page for citizens to see what is going on with all and any spending of government funds. We have to cut down on overspending or inappropriate spending in order to save the economy and improve the value of life for all. By keeping our records right and in the limelight, there should be no way for money to go missing or be misused. By doing so, we open doors of unity between the government and our citizens.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Rayfield Morton campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024	U.S. House New Jersey District 10	Lost general	$0	N/A**
Grand total			$0	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

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Footnotes

[show]

New Jersey's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Cory Booker (D)

Andrew Kim (D)

Representatives

District 1

Donald Norcross (D)

District 2

Jeff Van Drew (R)

District 3

Herbert Conaway (D)

District 4

Chris Smith (R)

District 5

Josh Gottheimer (D)

District 6

Frank Pallone (D)

District 7

Thomas Kean (R)

District 8

Robert Menendez (D)

District 9

Nellie Pou (D)

District 10

LaMonica McIver (D)

District 11

Vacant

District 12

Bonnie Coleman (D)

Democratic Party (10)

Republican Party (3)

Vacancies (1)