Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill (D-Montclair) is running for Congress – and he’s already got a vast array of prominent Essex County Democrats already aligned behind his campaign.
After months of speculation and planning, Gill officially announced this morning that he’ll compete in the special election to succeed Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill, who will soon be departing her 11th congressional district seat. Gill, a longtime Democratic Party operative, said that as New Jersey Democrats look for ways to push back against President Donald Trump’s administration, he’d be fighter for them in Congress.
“I’m running for Congress because our president, enabled by bootlickers in Congress and Wall Street, is wreaking havoc on our streets, hollowing out our economy, tearing down our American values,” Gill said in his launch video. “I’m running to fight back against Donald Trump and his crooked buddies, and to make sure that everyone has a place at the table.”
Gill’s campaign launch comes with more than 60 endorsements from Essex County Democrats, among them seven local state legislators and dozens of other elected officials and party leaders. It’s a show of force so far unmatched by any of Gill’s opponents in the increasingly crowded Democratic primary – but it’s less clear to what extent it will sway voters who have grown more accustomed in recent years to voting against party-backed candidates.
A lifelong resident of Montclair, the famously progressive suburb home to Sherrill and many other leading Democrats, Gill said in his launch video that his political career was inspired by his father, a middle school teacher whom Gill said “would always make room for others, no matter what.”
Over the course of his career as a political operative, Gill has worked with and for Senators Cory Booker and Frank Lautenberg, the late Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson), former Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Englewood), and outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy; Gill managed Murphy’s 2017 campaign, which catapulted the former Goldman Sachs executive from a political unknown into New Jersey’s most powerful man. Gill has run his own firm, the BGill Group, since 2017.
In 2011, Gill was elected to the 5th district seat on the Essex County Board of Freeholders, and moved into an at-large seat in 2014; he’s been re-elected to the board three times since then. As an at-large commissioner, Gill already represents nearly two-fifths of the 11th district’s voters – and an even greater share of its Democratic voters.
(Gill nearly got a promotion in 2023 to the State Assembly, but was foiled by a bizarre set of circumstances. Gill was interested in running for an open Assembly seat that year, but since party leaders didn’t want to put forward an all-white-male ticket, his wife, Alixon Collazos-Gill, got party support instead. Then, when a second seat opened up, Collazos-Gill dropped out of the race in deference to her husband – only to get back in the day of the Democratic convention.)
Across those many years of work in political and elected roles, Gill has built up a huge stable of allies, and that’s now paying off. Among his day-one endorsers are State Sens. John McKeon (D-West Orange), Renee Burgess (D-Irvington), and Britnee Timberlake (D-East Orange); Assemblymembers Michael Venezia (D-Bloomfield), Carmen Morales (D-Belleville), Shavonda Sumter (D-North Haledon), and Collazos-Gill, his wife; Essex County Clerk Christopher Durkin; and five of his colleagues on the board of commissioners.
Neither of the two most powerful people in Essex County politics, County Democratic Chairman LeRoy Jones or County Executive Joe DiVincenzo, are on the list, but neither are keeping much distance from Team Gill, either: County Sheriff Amir Jones, the chairman’s son, and Phil Alagia, DiVincenzo’s chief of staff, are both supporting Gill.
“I’m proud of what we’ve achieved here in Essex County – but I know there’s so much more we can do for our state and our country,” Gill said in a statement. “From fighting for affordable health care to ensuring every child has access to a great public education, I’ll be a tireless advocate for New Jersey’s values in Congress.”
In an earlier era of New Jersey politics, endorsements like those may have been enough to secure the nomination for Gill, or at least make him the frontrunner, though they come almost entirely from the Essex County side of the district (and not from its Morris or Passaic sections). But plenty of other Democrats will be running, too, and won’t be deterred by Gill’s show of party support.
Two notable Democrats, Obama administration alum Cammie Croft and Morris Township Committeeman/former Mayor Jeff Grayzel, entered the race before Sherrill had even secured the governorship. Two more, Passaic County Commissioner John Bartlett (D-Wayne) and former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes), launched campaigns this week; Malinowski represented a different district during his four years in Congress, but his fundraising abilities and name recognition will likely make him a top contender anyways.
Still others are considering the race, among them Maplewood Committeeman/former Mayor Dean Dafis; Biden administration alum Jack Miller; and Assemblywoman Rosy Bagolie (D-Livingston), who pointedly did not join her two 27th district colleagues on Gill’s endorsement list today.
One Republican, Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway, is also running, but the 11th district’s blue hue means that most of the attention will likely be focused on the Democratic primary.
A lot is still uncertain about the upcoming special election – including when exactly it will be. Sherrill and Gov. Phil Murphy both said yesterday that they’re still working out when Sherrill will depart Congress and how quickly the election to replace her can proceed; Sherrill also indicated that she won’t be getting involved in the district’s Democratic primary.
Full list of Gill’s endorsements
- State Senators John McKeon, Renee Burgess, and Britnee Timberlake
- Assemblymembers Alixon Collazos-Gill, Michael Venezia, Carmen Morales, and Shavonda Sumter
- Essex County Clerk Christopher Durkin
- Essex County Sheriff Amir Jones
- Essex County Commissioners Carlos Pomares, Tyshammie Cooper, Romaine Sermons, A’Dorian Murray-Thomas, and Leonard Luciano
- Democratic municipal chairs Sal Carnovale (Belleville), Michael Venezia (Bloomfield), Linda Bennett (Cedar Grove), Philip Alagia (Fairfield), Jacqueline Yustein (Glen Ridge), Cheryl Desmarais (Millburn), Thomas Evans (Nutley), James Spango (Roseland), Larry Hirsch (South Orange), Lou Venezia (West Caldwell), Abdur Yasin (West Orange)
- Democratic municipal vice chairs Corey Anderson (Bloomfield), Michael Vieira (Livingston), Nick Romano (Millburn), Tanya Poteat (Montclair), Noreen Haverton (Nutley), Eileen Fishman (Roseland),
- Belleville Mayor Michael Melham and Councilmembers Vincent Cozzarelli, Diana Guardabasco, and Thomas Graziano
- Bloomfield Mayor Jenny Mundell
- Glen Ridge Mayor Deborah Mans
- Irvington Mayor Tony Vauss
- Livingston Mayor Edward Meinhardt and Councilmembers Shawn Klein and Michael Vieira
- Millburn Mayor Annette Romano and Committeemembers Michael Cohen and David Cosgrove
- Montclair Mayor Renee Baskerville and Councilmembers Susan Shin Andersen, Erik D’Amato, William Harrison, Aminah Toler, and Eileen Birmingham
- Former Montclair Mayors Robert Russo and Robert Jackson; former Montclair Councilmembers David Cummings, Lori Price Abrams, Kathryn Weller-Demming, Jessica de Koninck, Audrey Fletcher-Lee, Roger Terry, and Robin Schlager
- North Caldwell Mayor Joshua Raymond
- Nutley Commissioner Thomas J. Evans
- Roseland Mayor James Spango and Councilmen John Biront, Christopher Bardi, and Marcelino “Moose” Trillo
- Former South Orange Councilwoman Deborah Davis Ford
- Montclair Democrats Executive Director Cary Chevat, Recording Secretary Elsie Barrick, and Treasurer Jordan Hirschhorn
(Some endorsers may appear twice if they hold multiple roles.)
