Tom Malinowski makes it official: He’s running to succeed Mikie Sherrill

Four years ago today, Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes) was in the fight for his political life. Facing a well-known Republican foe in a district that had been deliberately redrawn to become more conservative and that many of his fellow Democrats believed to be unwinnable, Malinowski narrowly lost re-election, bringing his four years in Congress to an end.

Today, his comeback campaign begins. With Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill soon to depart her seat in the 11th congressional district – one seat over from the 7th district Malinowski used to represent – the former congressman announced this morning that he’ll run in the as-yet unscheduled special election to succeed her.

“I feel very strongly that we need a Congress that will check the president’s corruption and abuse of power, and go back to doing its job to build an economy that works for people bottom-up rather than billionaire-down,” Malinowski told the New Jersey Globe. “I’ve got the experience, I’ve done it before, and I’ll be ready to do it effectively the day I’m elected.”

Malinowski’s ambitions have been known for some time; he said over the summer, after Sherrill had won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, that he was interested in running for her seat, and he filed campaign finance paperwork earlier this week. He’s set to properly launch his campaign later this morning in Millburn.

As a former congressman who raised tens of millions of dollars and developed a loyal following during his time in office, Malinowski starts out with some huge advantages over his prospective Democratic opponents, most of whom are far from household names among voters. Given that the Democratic primary for the 11th district could be arriving as soon as January or February (the exact timing remains unclear), having built-in name recognition and fundraising abilities could be critical for the sprint of a campaign.

But Malinowski will also have to overcome some major obstacles: most importantly, the fact that he’s not from the 11th district, and until today chaired a party organization in a county that has no overlap with the district. Malinowski noted, however, that two towns he used to represent in the 7th district, Dover and Millburn, are now in the 11th district, and that he currently teaches at Seton Hall University in South Orange; he said he’s planning on moving into the 11th district very soon, though he’s still determining where, and will be an 11th district voter by the time the Democratic primary arrives.

“I will be the only candidate in the primary who has actually represented any part of the 11th district in Congress,” Malinowski said. “These are not just sister districts, but overlapping districts.”

And past experience in Congress – regardless of the district lines – could come with concrete benefits for the residents of the 11th district.

“I would start with both the informal influence that comes with having the relationships and the experience working with the leadership, and some formal influence that comes with a bit of seniority,” Malinowski said.

The 60-year-old Malinowski was born in Poland and raised primarily in Princeton, the stepson of journalist and activist Blair Clark. After earning a Rhodes Scholarship, Malinowski held a number of roles in government before landing in the two jobs that would define his adult career: Washington director of the Human Rights Watch, a nonprofit watchdog group, and Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.

In 2017, after departing the Obama administration, Malinowski moved back to New Jersey to launch a campaign against Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Clinton), one of several GOP congressmen in New Jersey whom Democrats believed they could beat that year. Malinowski outmaneuvered a crowded field of local Democrats – at one point winning a crucial party endorsement by just one vote – before unseating Lance 52% to 47%, helping to sweep Democrats into the House majority.

Upon arriving in Congress, Malinowski earned a reputation as a straight shooter willing to explicitly criticize Donald Trump in a way some of his fellow swing-district representatives shied away from. But during his second term, he found himself in hot water with the House Ethics Committee over his late stock trade disclosures; the committee’s investigation never came to a conclusion and was dropped when he left Congress, though it could be revived if he were to return.

More damaging to Malinowski’s political future, though, was the adoption of a new congressional map that lurched the 7th district rightwards. The map was drawn by Democrats focused on protecting neighboring Democratic incumbents (among them Sherrill) and willing to sacrifice Malinowski, who had nearly lost in 2020 even in a bluer district; Malinowski forged ahead with his re-election campaign, but he lost to Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) 51% to 49%.

Malinowski didn’t exit the political scene after his loss, shifting his focus to local school board races and eventually running for, and winning, the post of Hunterdon County Democratic chairman in 2024. (He announced in an email to Hunterdon Democrats this morning that he has resigned from that position.)

He also got involved in some big statewide races, weighing in for Andy Kim during the 2024 U.S. Senate primary – an endorsement that came after he strongly considered a Senate campaign of his own – and for Sherrill during this year’s gubernatorial primary.

There was some speculation that Malinowski would eventually seek a rematch with Kean in the 7th district, but over the last year, it became increasingly common knowledge that he was more interested in setting himself up for campaign in the 11th district, which is much bluer.

Malinowski said that his campaign will focus in part on issues that “any Democrat running now would say”: fighting Trump’s tariff regime and protecting access to health care, particularly after the GOP passed major Medicaid cuts in the Big Beautiful Bill over the summer. But he also emphasized two other issues, foreign policy and tech safety, that he has specific interest in and experience with that other Democrats might not.

“[It’s] probably the most important issue that Congress and this billionaire-purchase president are failing to address: making sure that artificial intelligence helps us, rather than hurts us,” Malinowski said.

Malinowski is far from alone in seeking Sherrill’s seat. Three other prominent Democrats – Passaic County Commissioner John Bartlett (D-Wayne), Obama administration alum Cammie Croft, and Morris Township Committeeman/former Mayor Jeff Grayzel – are already running; two more, Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill (D-Montclair) and Maplewood Committeeman/former Mayor Dean Dafis, are likely to enter shortly; and plenty of others are at least considering the race.

What the special election primary will look like is still anyone’s guess, but one thing Malinowski is unlikely to be is the machine-backed candidate. Malinowski was never especially close to top party leaders during his earlier years in Congress, and he said that he thinks New Jersey has reached a turning point from the days of boss- and party-dominated politics.

“New Jersey has had a reset,” he said. “The county line is no more; we had a super competitive, and I think very healthy, primary in the governor’s race. Anyone who thinks that they can win a primary by being anointed is going to be disappointed. That kind of politics annoys more voters than it attracts.”