Jan. 15, 2026, 7:09 p.m.
MONTCLAIR, N.J.—Three months after New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill’s victory, Democrats will likely get to choose her successor in the 11th Congressional District, in the party’s first primary of 2026.
Eleven Democrats representing the party's ideological spectrum are jockeying to distinguish themselves ahead of a Feb. 5 special-election primary, battling through the politically dormant holiday season and motivating voters to turn out on the Thursday before the Super Bowl. Despite the expected low turnout, candidates are debating the future of their party through their campaigns, and several told National Journal this race is a temperature check of other elections later this year.
“I think it is going to be a bellwether,” said Mara Novak, co-executive director for the nonprofit NJ 11th for Change who hosted a candidates' forum in December.
The last time New Jersey's most educated district was open in 2018, Sherrill flipped the red seat by running a center-left campaign that emphasized her record as a former Navy helicopter pilot and a former federal prosecutor. But 2021 redistricting that drew more Democrats into the suburban seat, combined with the region’s blue-trending demographics, make the 11th District now more of a liberal enclave.
Novak said she sees the large Democratic field divided into two groups. One includes democracy-defending candidates focused on defending the district from President Trump; these include former Rep. Tom Malinowski, Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, and Passaic County Commissioner John Bartlett. The other group is focused on the local response to Trump and the district’s future beyond the president's term; these include Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill and Center for Popular Democracy co-executive director Analilia Mejía.
“I think if the messaging that succeeds is very specifically 'defend democracy against Trump,' if that’s the messaging that winds up winning the day, that is going to be very telling,” Novak said.
Comeback kid?
Malinowski is one of the most prominent Democrats in the race, touting his opposition to the first Trump administration and his challenge against the state’s former county-line ballot design. Sen. Andy Kim, a leading opponent of New Jersey machine politics, is supporting Malinowski’s comeback bid.
“I distinguish myself by focusing on being the only candidate in the field to have represented any part of this district in Congress, the only one who has effectively stood up to Trump on that national stage, the only one who would have the experience and even the formal seniority if I’m elected to be effective on Day One,” Malinowski told National Journal.
Not all Democrats are happy with Malinowski’s comeback, pointing to his time representing the neighboring 7th Congressional District before losing reelection to Republican Tom Kean Jr. in 2022. Since then, Malinowski has led the Hunterdon County Democratic Party, outside the 11th District’s boundaries.
Malinowski told National Journal he currently resides in South Orange, an 11th District village where he taught at Seton Hall University in the fall. The former congressman represented two 11th District municipalities—Dover and Millburn—before they were moved out of the 7th District during 2021 redistricting. A November internal poll showed him with the highest name recognition among the primary field, including his nearest primary opponent, Gill.
Local pushback
Gill, the husband of state Assemblywoman Alixon Collazos-Gill, is an experienced Garden State political operative. He’s worked for several New Jersey members of Congress, including Sen. Cory Booker, and served as the 2017 campaign manager for Gov. Phil Murphy, who’s backing his congressional bid.
Gill also has the support of New Jersey Democratic Party Chair LeRoy Jones, who also chairs the Essex County Democratic Committee. In last year’s Democratic gubernatorial primary results, roughly 51 percent of votes cast within the 11th District came from Essex County. Nearly one-tenth of the district’s Democratic votes hailed from Montclair, home to Sherrill and Gill—chairman of the Montclair Democrats.
A campaign sign for Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill, a Democratic congressional candidate in New Jersey's 11th Congressional District, in Montclair, N.J., on Dec. 28 (National Journal/Nicholas Anastácio)
Nicholas Anastácio
Malinowski isn’t sweating Gill’s Essex support, arguing during a Jan. 4 Livingston campaign event that the county Democratic Committee’s endorsement is “not necessarily what people are looking for in this moment.” The next day, Gill defended his Essex supporters at a Montclair campaign event, arguing, “That support is about what we did together, not about machine politics.”
Apart from Essex, about 42 percent of 11th District votes last year hailed from Morris County. The Morris County Democratic Committee endorsed Malinowski, but the endorsement won’t appear on county ballots. Seven percent of 11th District votes came from Passaic County; the Passaic County Democratic Committee co-endorsed Bartlett and Way, a former Passaic County commissioner.
“Anyone can say they’re a fighter, but look at their record of results,” Bartlett, a voting-rights lawyer, told National Journal. “I’m the candidate in this contest who’s taken on Donald Trump in the U.S. Supreme Court and won when he tried to weaponize the 2020 Census against immigrant communities.”
Bartlett is also highlighting his connection to the district’s South Asian community. He featured his wife—Fairleigh Dickinson University professor Khyati Joshi, who is Indian American—in a recent digital ad. Fal Pandya, a co-chair of the state Democratic Party’s Hindu Caucus, hosted a campaign event for Bartlett in Livingston on Jan. 4.
Way, who also serves as New Jersey’s secretary of state, similarly showcased her bouts with the Trump administration. Way has the support of the Congressional Black Caucus PAC, the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association, and the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State.
“It is clear that I have the receipts, those proven results, standing up to Donald Trump and the Republicans as they have attacked our democracy,” Way told National Journal. “I’m the one who is now still in the ring ensuring that [New Jerseyans’] personal identifying information is not going to be released unlawfully to the Trump administration.”
Imagining a post-Trump world
Emerging as a wild card in the Democratic primary is Mejía, the political director for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign and a Biden administration official. While lacking Malinowski’s name ID and Gill’s establishment support, Mejía is generating buzz among the progressive wing of the party. She has the backing of the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Sanders, who’s set to hold a Wayne rally for her on Monday as part of his nationwide “Fighting Oligarchy” tour.
Former Rep. Tom Malinowski speaks to voters at a meet-and-greet event on Jan. 4 in Livingston, N.J. (National Journal/Nicholas Anastácio)
Nicholas Anastácio
Mejía is looking to energize progressives in a district accustomed to Sherrill’s moderate leanings, dipping into her experience as a grassroots organizer and the former state director at the New Jersey Working Families Alliance. Mejía, who is Afro-Latina, is also reaching out to the district’s Latino voter base, holding a bilingual rally and canvassing operation with Make the Road Action New Jersey last month in Bloomfield.
She’s not the only self-avowed progressive in the race, though. Chatham Borough Councilman Justin Strickland, an Army veteran, is focusing on growing the Democratic base within the district by touting a range of policy proposals on student-loan debt, childcare, and affordable housing.
Strickland said he was concerned that Mejía and the “progressive celebrity wing of the Democratic Party” are more focused on rhetoric than advancing progressive policies.
“I just think that we need candidates that are focused on making life better for regular people with specific policy and not about the same-old, same-old stuff,” Strickland told National Journal in an interview at his Chatham Borough home, decorated with political memorabilia celebrating John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy.
Trying to break through
Aside from the six elected officials running in the primary—including Morris Township Deputy Mayor Jeff Grayzel—outsider candidates are working to gain ground against better-known opponents.
Cammie Croft, a former clean-energy-nonprofit leader who previously worked under President Obama, told National Journal she envisions a Democratic Party that’s inclusive of both Sherrill and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
“I was trying to deliver, like, helping people save money on their energy bills, and it was blown apart by this administration,” Croft said. “I am going right back to be able to do that very thing so people can build the lives they deserve.”
Anna Lee Williams, a 27-year-old corporate social-responsibility manager, told National Journal her campaign’s “Fair Deal” proposal is designed to address the unique constraints facing younger residents within the 11th District and “drive high voter turnout.” Williams said Democrats “need to talk about the economic pains that people are feeling and the everyday struggles that we all have, and then give solutions to actually address that.”
Army veteran Zach Beecher is aiming to make sure the district remains represented by a service member. Endorsed by VoteVets, New Politics, and the With Honor Fund, Beecher told National Journal that veterans like himself and Sherrill offer “principled leadership but pragmatic leadership styles that are focused again on results, not rhetoric.”
“I think when you talk to Americans about the challenges that face them, they want a sobriety and they want a seriousness that comes with the responsibility of governing and power,” Beecher said.
J-L Cauvin, an eviction-prevention attorney and Trump impersonator, is using his comedic chops to break through to disaffected voters.
Cauvin told National Journal that “Democrats need strong communicators” while boosting “bolder people, newer voices that will engage the party.”
Coming attractions
Democratic primary voters have three weeks to decide who they’ll choose as Sherrill’s successor. She won the district by 15 points last year, according to the New Jersey Globe, and the primary will serve as a de facto general election.
Mail-in ballots have been sent to 11th District voters since Dec. 22, featuring the names of two withdrawn candidates—former congressional staffer Marc Chaaban, who has endorsed Mejía, and Maplewood Committeeman Dean Dafis, who's backing Gill. Early voting begins on Jan. 29 and ends on Feb. 3.
Whether name recognition, establishment support, or ideological alignment wins the primary, voters could make a choice that reverberates beyond the district and, perhaps, New Jersey this year.
“We have an embarrassment of riches before us,” said Morris County Democratic Committee Chair Darcy Draeger at her committee’s special-election nominating convention on Dec. 14. “I do not envy you.”
