Independent gubernatorial candidate Gina Genovese of Long Hill tonight selected veteran political operative Derel Stroud of Plainfield as her running mate.

“We will make this race interesting,” Genovese, a former mayor of Long Hill and champion of shared services, told InsiderNJ.

The pair sealed the deal tonight.

A Democrat who visibly backed Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-19) in the Democratic Primary for governor, Stroud has worked Central Jersey races for years, and ran U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman’s 2014 field campaign in the Democratic Primary.

“I’m honored to have been considered by Ms. Genovese, people are sick of the back and forth, nothing gets done, and NJ needs real leadership,” Stroud told InsiderNJ. “This isn’t about making or losing friends, it’s about doing what’s right for NJ.”

Tennis pro and small businesswoman Genovese is herself a former Democrat.

Stroud is the first African American man to run for the LG slot in New Jersey and, at 31, the youngest LG candidate to date. The first in his family to finish college and born in Toms River, he hails from a single mother household. He lived in Asbury Park, and moved to Ocean Township after his junior year in high school. He attended Academy Charter High School in Lake Como.

The independent LG candidate holds an “AA” in Criminal Justice and Police Studies, BA in Political Science concentration in public relations, Brookdale Community College and Seton Hall University.

For more on Gina Genovese, please go here. You can also read InsiderNJ’s breaking story on Genovese’s gubernatorial candidacy here.