Former New Jersey Rep. Tom Malinowski seeks House comeback from Sherrill's district

Mary Ellen McIntire, CQ-Roll Call on Nov 6, 2025

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WASHINGTON — Former New Jersey Rep. Tom Malinowski is seeking a comeback, announcing Thursday a run to succeed Democratic Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill in the 11th District.

“I’m running to fulfill an oath to the Constitution I first took as a child getting American citizenship, and again as a diplomat standing up to dictators and a Congressman standing up to Trump,” the Democrat said in a statement.

Malinowski represented the neighboring 7th District for two terms until losing in 2022 to Republican Thomas H. Kean Jr. after the seat was redrawn to be more favorable to Republicans.

Malinowski filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run for the 11th District on the eve of New Jersey’s gubernatorial election, which Sherrill decisively won Tuesday.

The outgoing congresswoman, who, like Malinowski, was first elected to the House in 2018, is set to take office in January, although she hasn’t said when she plans to resign her seat. A special election to fill the remainder of her term is expected next year.

“I’m running for Congress again, to pick up where my friend Mikie Sherrill left off,” Malinowski said in his campaign launch video. “To repeal the mindless tariffs that are raising prices for every New Jerseyan. To put affordable health care and housing before tax breaks for billionaires.”

Malinowski was born in communist Poland and emigrated to the U.S. as a child. Before coming to Congress, he built up decades of experience in the foreign policy arena, working in the Clinton and Obama administrations and as Washington director for Human Rights Watch.

In 2018, he unseated Republican Rep. Leonard Lance as the so-called blue wave swept Democrats into control of the House. In office, he often drew on his experience shaping foreign policy at the federal agency level.

Malinowski also came under scrutiny for failing to disclose stock trades he made while in office in a consistent manner and was the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation. The issue dogged him in his unsuccessful bid for a third term.

Malinowski won’t have the Democratic field for the as-yet-unscheduled special election to himself. Passaic County Commissioner John Bartlett announced his campaign for the 11th District seat Wednesday.

Other Democrats in the race include Morris Township Committeeman Jeff Grayzel and Obama White House alumna Cammie Croft. Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway, who launched a bid for the GOP nomination last month, told the New Jersey Globe on Wednesday that he’ll run in the special election.

The 11th District, which includes the suburbs and exurbs of New York City, leans Democratic. Sherrill won a fourth term last year by 15 points, while Kamala Harris carried the district by 9 points, according to calculations by Inside Elections.

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