This story was updated at 7:18 pm with the final list of candidates; Donald Crescitello failed to vote.
The field for the special election in New Jersey’s 11th congressional district, which was vacant after Governor-elect Mickey Sherrill resigned from the House last month, is now largely decided.
Thirteen Democrats filed for the seat, the largest primary field for a New Jersey House seat in years. Only one Republican, Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway, filed to run for the Democratic-leaning district, essentially making him the GOP candidate by default.
All candidates had to file with at least 500 signatures, a threshold that most of them easily passed despite the short deadline for circulating the petitions. (The threshold was raised from 200 to 500 earlier this year; this special election will be the first time the increased requirements go into effect for a congressional race.)
The last date for filing objections to signatures on any candidate’s petition is December 5 and all challenges must be resolved by December 10.
The thirteen Democratic candidates who filed to run include Essex County Commissioner Brandon Gill (1,700 signatures), Bernie Sanders 2020 National Political Director Analilia Mejia (1,509), former Representative Tom Malinowski (1,501), Lieutenant Governor Taheesha Way (1,280), Chatham Councilman Justin Strickland (1,110), activist Anna Lee Williams. (1,089), includes Morris Township Committeeman/Former Mayor. Jeff Grayzel (1,042), former Army paratrooper Zach Beecher (999), Passaic County Commissioner John Bartlett (990), Obama administration alumnus Cammy Croft (948), former congressional staffer Mark Chaban (849), Maplewood committeeman/former Mayor Dean Dafis (719), and comedian and attorney J.L. Cowin (619).
A fourteenth Democrat, Morristown mayor and perennial candidate Donald Crescitello, applied to run, but submitted less than 200 signatures and was rejected on the spot. Crescitello had previously filed a lawsuit to extend the filing deadline for the seat, an effort that was rejected by a state Superior Court judge.
Apart from Cracitello, none of the candidates who launched campaigns for the seat failed to file; Another Democrat, Kennedy Pivnik, who had filed fundraising paperwork but not officially entered the race, did not file.
As for Hathaway, her campaign filed with 1,627 signatures; He had begun solidifying local GOP support even before today, and whispers of a contentious Republican primary never materialized.
The primary election for the seat, which includes parts of Morris, Essex and Passaic counties, will be held on Feb. 5, while the general election will be held on April 16. As is the case in New Jersey elections, candidates not aligned with the two major parties will have until Primary Day to file a petition to make the general election ballot.
Some candidates filed ballot papers with slogans, but many of them applied in anticipation Upcoming Democratic County Convention The official ballot that will provide the slogans is currently slogan-less. Essex County Democrats will cast their endorsements tomorrow, while Morris Democrats will do so on December 14, although due to timing issues the Morris endorsement will not come with a ballot slogan.
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