Like other Democrats running for the 11th congressional district, Morris Township Deputy Mayor Jeff Grayzel’s congressional campaign will be in limbo until he knows for sure whether gubernatorial nominee Mikie Sherrill will be vacating her House seat – but that doesn’t seem to have hindered his fundraising.
Grayzel, who officially filed paperwork for Sherrill’s seat in August after saying earlier in the summer that he planned to run, announced today that he raised $339,356 during his first three months in the race, a formidable sum that establishes him as a serious contender in what could become a packed Democratic primary.
“Fighting back against Donald Trump, who is shredding our democracy, is going to take a candidate with a proven history of fighting for Democrats and delivering results for my constituents,” Grayzel said in a statement. “With so much at stake for our nation, I have the leadership skills we need to fill Mikie Sherrill’s shoes in Congress.”
As soon as Sherrill, the 11th district’s congresswoman since 2019, won the June primary for governor, ambitious Democrats in her district began mulling campaigns to succeed her in a potential special election. Since it’s not guaranteed that Sherrill will defeat Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli, though, many of those would-be candidates have been strategically quiet about their ambitions thus far.
Grayzel, though, decided over the summer to publicly launch a campaign anyways, and two other candidates have done the same: Obama administration official Cammie Croft and activist Anna Lee Williams. (Fundraising reports reveal which is likely to be the more serious of the two: Croft raised $153,000 during her first 24 hours in the race, while Williams has raised $21,000 total.)
Grayzel and Croft have both promised they will exit the race again if Sherrill loses the governor’s race and seeks re-election next year; Williams has said she’s going to continue her campaign even if it means running against Sherrill.
But if Election Day comes and Sherrill emerges victorious, expect a huge flood of new Democratic candidates to join the field for a special primary that could come as soon as next January or February. Former 7th district Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes) and Chatham Councilman Justin Strickland have both publicly acknowledged their interest in the race; other potential contenders include Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill (D-Montclair), Passaic County Commissioner John Bartlett (D-Wayne), Assemblywoman Rosy Bagolie (D-Livingston), South Orange Mayor Sheena Collum, and Biden administration official Jack Miller.
One Republican, Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway, has also entered the race, though he says he plans on running against Sherrill next year after she loses to Ciattarelli; Hathaway announced earlier today that he raised $107,000 during his first week in the race.
Grayzel, an engineer, has a long political history in Morris County, which is home to a majority of the 11th district’s voters. In 2007, after several unsuccessful campaigns, he became the first Democrat elected to the Morris Township Committee since the 1973 Watergate landslide; his victory was followed by an alternating series of losses and comebacks before he became the township’s first-ever Democratic mayor in 2019.
Grayzel was the nominee for a Republican-leaning State Senate seat in 2021, but lost 57% to 43%. That was quickly followed by yet another comeback when he unseated the Morris Township Committee’s lone Republican member, 85-year-old Peter Mancuso, in 2022; Grayzel is seeking another term on the committee this year.
