NJ-11 battle lines are drawn in Belleville

The Democratic primary for New Jersey’s 11th congressional district and the nonpartisan race for mayor of Belleville – two very different races happening in different months with different electorates – have become intertwined.

The incumbent mayor, Michael Melham, is an ally of Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill (D-Montclair), one of the leading candidates for the 11th district. Melham, alongside three Bellville councilmembers, endorsed Gill on the first day of his congressional campaign, and Gill was listed as one of Melham’s Day One supporters when he launched his own re-election bid.

Melham faces a challenge, however, from 24-year-old Belleville Councilman Frank Vélez, who ran for State Assembly last year as an ally of Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop. Earlier this week, one of Gill’s main 11th district opponents, former Rep. Tom Malinowski, endorsed Vélez’s mayoral campaign; today, Vélez returned the favor and backed Malinowski for Congress.

In his endorsement, Malinowski cited the fact that Melham, a political independent who has won two nonpartisan terms as mayor, supported Republican Jack Ciattarelli for governor in both 2021 and 2025. (Ciattarelli ended up losing Belleville by double digits both times.) He also highlighted Melham’s comments at a council meeting last year that he “[didn’t] believe an insurrection happened on January 6th,” 2021, when pro-Trump protesters stormed the Capitol.

“Leaders who deny reality, dismiss assaults on law enforcement, and support anti-democratic thugs have no business representing our communities,” Malinowski said.

Vélez won a contested race for his council seat in 2024, and came in second in Belleville during his insurgent Assembly run last year, beating out incumbent Assemblyman Mike Venezia (D-Bloomfield). But Melham is a formidable political force in the town, narrowly ousting an incumbent mayor in 2018 and easily winning re-election in 2022.

Malinowski also unveiled endorsements today from Belleville Councilwoman Tracy Juanita Muldrow, three Belleville school board members, and Nick Scotti, a young school board member in neighboring Nutley. (Gill has some local support in Nutley, too, from Township Commissioner Thomas Evans.)

The mayoral election won’t be until May 12, but the Democratic primary for the 11th district is fast approaching on February 5, giving candidates precious little time to win voters over. Malinowski’s and Gill’s dueling endorsements in Belleville give both men a base of support in Belleville, which cast around 2% of the 11th district’s Democratic primary vote in 2024; Analilia Mejia, the lone Hispanic candidate in the race, might also be able to compete for votes in the majority-Hispanic town.

Similar battles are playing out all across the district, where party organizations and elected officials have splintered among the many candidates running. Gill has official party support in Essex County, but Malinowski has peeled away some local politicians like South Orange Mayor Sheena Collum; Malinowski was endorsed by the Morris County Democrats, but his support there isn’t unanimous, either; and Passaic County has been split thus far between the two Passaic candidates in the race, County Commissioner John Bartlett and Lieutenant Gov. Tahesha Way.