Grayzel will run for Congress if Sherrill wins governor’s race

Morris Township Deputy Mayor Jeff Grayzel will seek the Democratic nomination for Congress in New Jersey’s 11th district if Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) is elected governor.

“I am 100% in the race,” Grayzel told the New Jersey Globe.  “My full intention is to run for the seat should Mikie win the election, as many believe she will.  The timeline for a special election in early 2026 is already very short, and planning for this kind of race takes time.  Thus, I am taking the appropriate steps to explore a run, including starting to assemble a team.”

Grayzel, who has served twice as a mayor, announced in February that he was mulling a congressional run if Sherrill was not in the race.

“With so much at stake for our nation, I am now taking the appropriate steps to explore representing our community in Washington,” said Grayzel.  “I am confident that my record of community service, leadership, and common-sense solutions has equipped me with the experience and temperament needed to fight right-wing extremism in Washington.”

While Sherrill faces a competitive race for governor against Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a number of Democrats are already preparing for a contest to succeed her if she is successful.  Grayzel made it clear he will not run if Sherrill loses the governor’s race and seeks re-election to Congress.

“As an engineer, I approach challenges with a problem-solving mindset,” Grayzel stated.  “My diverse work and life experiences give me a strong foundation in critical areas like intellectual property law, FDA approval process, small business innovation, and international affairs.”

He’s the second candidate to affirmatively say he wants to run in the 11th district, assuming the seat becomes open; last December, Chatham Borough Councilman Justin Strickland, a retired U.S. Army captain who served two combat tours in Iraq, filed campaign paperwork for what could be a special election in early 2026.  Former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes) has also publicly expressed interest in the seat, and a whole host of other Democrats, including plenty of local state legislators and county and local elected officials, are looking at the race as well.

Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill (D-Montclair) and Passaic County Commissioner John Bartlett (D-Wayne) are almost certain to run; other possible candidates include: Assemblywoman Rosy Bagolie (D-Livingston); South Orange Mayor Sheena Collum, who was the running mate of Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, one of Sherrill’s opponents, in last week’s gubernatorial primary; and Jack Miller, the former communications director at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under Joe Biden, who was raised in Morristown and lives in Montclair.

With Democrats firmly focused on electing Sherrill and a Democratic State Assembly this November, those interested in Sherrill’s seat will feel pressure not to draw too much attention to themselves for the next few months, especially since there’s no guarantee a special election will exist at all.  But if Sherrill does win, then the process to succeed her will have to begin incredibly fast, especially if the state legislature approves a bill that would allow the special Democratic primary to be held two months earlier than it otherwise would be –meaning that would-be candidates have to start preparing campaigns now.

Grayzel pioneered local Democratic victories in Morris Township, which flipped from red to blue just a few years ago.  He lost local races in 2003, 2004, and 2005, before finally winning in 2006 against incumbent Joseph Calvanelli.

He had an 11-vote lead before a recount found a dozen new votes, and Calvanelli was declared the winner by one vote.  Calvanelli was sworn in the following January.  The Democratic State Chairman, Joseph Cryan, assembled a legal team to challenge the recount results.  A judge found some technical deficiencies and ordered a new election in April 2007.  Grayzel won that race by 499 votes to become the first Democrat since the 1973 Watergate landslide to win a municipal election in Morris Township.

After losing re-election in 2009, and serving again from 2012 to 2014, before making a comeback in 2018 – without local party support.  Grayzel scored an off-the-line victory in the Democratic primary that year, and his subsequent general election victory on a slate with Mark Gyorfy gave Democrats a 4-1 majority on the township committee and allowed them to control municipal government for the first time.  He served as mayor in 2019, the first Democrat to ever hold the post.

He gave up his seat to challenge incumbent Anthony Bucco (R-Boonton) for State Senate in 2021, losing 57% to 43%. He then returned to the township committee in 2022 after unseating its lone Republican member, 85-year-old Peter Mancuso, a former mayor who served on the township committee on and off since 1978.

An engineer and former Bristol-Myers Squibb executive, Grayzel now runs a private medical device development company.  He serves on the board of several community organizations, including the Special Needs Athletic Program, the Great Swamp Watershed Association, the Morristown Jewish Center, and the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Metrowest.  He earned two undergraduate degrees from Cornell and a master’s degree in industrial engineering from Columbia.