2026 Special Election Primary - THURSDAY February 5th

View prior voter guides: 2024 Primary, 2024 General, 2025 Primary, 2025 General

SOMA Action is a grassroots organization in South Orange and Maplewood NJ focused on driving progressive change. We are unabashedly progressive and seek to provide useful and transparent information about the issues affecting our towns. Below please find information on the candidates appearing on the 2026 Special Primary ballot.

If you are a candidate wishing to correct an error/omission or provide links to more information, please contact info@somaaction.org or submit information to our google form.

Election Schedule

Now that our U.S. Representative has been elected Governor, it will take four elections to fill her seat.

  • Special election primary - THURSDAY, February 5

  • Special election general - THURSDAY, April 16

  • Regular election primary - Tuesday, June 2

  • Regular election general - Tuesday, November 3

It is absolutely critical to vote in ALL FOUR elections! Once an incumbent is established in a (relatively) safe district, they are difficult to unseat. This is potentially our main opportunity for the next decade (or more) to pick a representative we will be happy with.

We highly recommend registering to vote by mail to make sure not to miss an election! If you live in SOMA or Essex County, simply print, fill out, and mail this form by January 29th. (See here for Morris and Passaic Counties.)

How to Vote in the Special Primary

Register to vote by January 15th!
Check your voter registration and register to vote at https://nj.gov/state/elections/voter-registration.shtml

Ways to Vote

  1. Vote by Mail: If you do not already receive a vote by mail ballot, you may request one by printing this form and returning it to the County Clerk by January 29th. Once you have filled out your ballot, you may drop it off in any drop box (one is located in the South Orange Gazebo by the train station and another at the Hilton Library Branch in Maplewood) or mail it. Mail ballots must be postmarked by 8 pm on Election Day.

  2. Vote Early In Person: Early In Person voting will be available Thursday, January 29th through Tuesday, February 3rd. Look here for polling locations and hours. They are NOT the same as your election day polling place and may not be the same as your normal early voting location.

  3. Vote on Election Day: Find your polling place here. Polls will be open from 6 am - 8 pm on election day (THURSDAY, February 5th).

Basic Information

  • Competitive race between twelve candidates: Zach Beecher, John Bartlett, J-L Cauvin, Cammie Croft, Dean Dafis, Brendan Gill, Jeff Grayzel, Analilia Mejía, Tom Malinowski, Justin Strickland, Tahesha Way, and Anna Lee Williams.

    Representatives to the U.S. House are elected every two years and serve as one of 435 voting members of the House of Representatives. They help craft legislation, vote on laws and the federal budget, hold hearings, and provide oversight of federal agencies. Laws and budgets are supposed to be passed by both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, then signed into law by the President, at which point government agencies are supposed to spend the money and execute their duties as specified. 

    Currently, that process has broken down. Republicans, who control both the House and Senate, have given President Trump the power to spend money, refuse to spend money, and direct federal agency actions however he wants. Whether Congress chooses to take back its power over the next few years will determine whether our elected representatives continue to have meaningful power, or whether the United States is ruled by a single, king-like figure.

  • Coverage or events with multiple candidates:

    Information about individual candidates is listed below in order of the number of petition signatures they filed to get on the ballot.

    Brendan Gill

    Essex County Commissioner, Chair of the Montclair Dems., President & CEO of the BGill Group lobbying firm. Managed Gov. Murphy’s 2017 campaign.

    Analilia Mejía

    Co-Director of the Center for Popular Democracy, former national political director for Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, former director of New Jersey Working Families.

    Tom Malinowski

    Former Congressman for the 7th Congressional District; Former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor under Obama; currently Hunterdon County Democratic Chairman.

    Tahesha Way

    Lieutenant Governor

    Justin Strickland

    Chatham Councilman, worked at the Department of Defense on economic development in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. Army veteran.

    Anna Williams

    Community activist

    Jeff Grayzel

    Morris Township Deputy Mayor and former Mayor.

    Zach Beecher

    Venture capitalist, former Army paratrooper.

    John Bartlett

    Passaic County Commissioner.


    Cammie Croft

    Former Deputy New Media Director for Obama. Most recently worked for Rewiring America.

    Dean Dafis

    Former Mayor of Maplewood, current Maplewood Township Committeeman

    J-L Cauvin

    Attorney, comedian 

    The following candidates have dropped out:

    Marc Chaaban

    Former staffer for Mikie Sherrill

  • Generally speaking, candidates need some combination of the following to win:

    • Boots on the ground to get out the vote. This can include support from organizations with significant GOTV operations such as: state, county, and local political parties; unions; and grassroots groups. It can also include inspiring an unusually large number of enthusiastic volunteers or having enough money for a large campaign staff.

    • Positive name recognition. This can come from: having held prominent political office or being otherwise famous, having enough money to buy ads/mailers, earned media coverage, or going viral on social media.

    • Popular proposals that stand out from the crowd and that people know about.

    • Being recommended by people a voter trusts.

    While predicting special election results is very difficult. Here are a few things to look for:

    Who got the most petition signatures?

    In New Jersey, candidates have to get petition signatures to get on the ballot. Number of petition signatures submitted is an early (though not entirely predictive) test of a candidate’s ability to get out the vote and inspire volunteers. Here is how many signatures each candidate received:

    • Brendan Gill - 1700

    • Analilia Mejía - 1509

    • Tom Malinowski - 1501

    • Tahesha Way - 1280

    • Justin Strickland - 1110

    • Anna Lee Williams - 1089

    • Jeff Grayzel - 1042

    • Zach Beecher - 999

    • John Bartlett - 990

    • Cammie Croft - 948

    • Marc Chaaban - 849

    • Dean Dafis - 719

    • J-L Cauvin - 619

    Who has support from key organizations that get out the vote?

    (coming soon)

    How much money have candidates raised?

    (coming in January after the Q4 filing deadline)

    Are there any reliable polling results?

    (coming as applicable)

Evaluations