Twelve candidates are running in the special Feb. 5 primaries in the race to succeed Mikie Sherrill in the House of Representatives. (Photos by Anne-Marie Caruso/the Joe Hathaway campaign/Ashley Murray)
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Early in-person voting in primary races for the special election to fill Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s vacant House seat began Thursday.
Voters in the 11th Congressional District will choose which of the 11 Democrats running to replace Sherrill in Congress will win their party’s nod. Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway is unopposed on the Republican side. The election is on Thursday, Feb. 5.
The six-day early voting period for the district’s special election will run until Feb. 3, and voters can cast in-person votes before Election Day at any early polling station in their county.
The 11th District includes towns in Essex, Morris, and Passaic counties.
Ex-Rep. Malinowski leads fundraising in special House race
Essex County will open five early in-person polling stations, while Morris County will operate six, and Passaic County will run three. The state maintains a list of those sites, which are open between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., or until 6 p.m. on Sunday.
The Democratic field to succeed Sherrill is broad. The candidates are Passaic County Commissioner John Bartlett, U.S. Army veteran Zachary Beecher, attorney J-L Cauvin, former Obama White House staffer Cammie Croft, Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill, Morris Township Deputy Mayor Jeff Grayzel, former Rep. Tom Malinowski, activist Analilia Mejia, Chatham Borough Councilman and U.S. Army veteran Justin Strickland, former Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, and activist Anna Lee Williams.
The winner of the Democratic primary will face Hathaway in the general election on Thursday, April 16.
Those dates are unusual ones for elections — even special elections — because they fall on Thursdays. State, federal, and local elections are almost always held on Tuesdays. Former Gov. Phil Murphy scheduled the races for Thursdays before he left office, and at a campaign event for Gill earlier this month, Murphy himself said the timing concerned him.
“A Thursday election in the middle of the winter,” he said.
The eventual winner will serve out the remainder of Sherrill’s unexpired House term, which ends Jan. 3, 2027. The district’s voters will vote again in June primaries and in November’s general election for a more permanent successor.
Passaic County Commissioner John Bartlett speaks during a meet-and-greet with 12 of the candidates competing in the special primary for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District at Montclair State University on Nov. 11, 2025.(Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso/New Jersey Monitor)
Army veteran and businessman Zachary Beecher speaks during a meet-and-greet with 12 of the candidates competing in the special primary for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District at Montclair State University on Nov. 11, 2025.(Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso/New Jersey Monitor)
Attorney and comedian J-L Cauvin speaks during a meet-and-greet with 12 of the candidates competing in the special primary for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District at Montclair State University on Nov. 11, 2025.(Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso/New Jersey Monitor)
Former Obama staffer Cammie Croft speaks during a meet-and-greet with 12 of the candidates competing in the special primary for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District at Montclair State University on Nov. 11, 2025.(Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso/New Jersey Monitor)
Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill speaks during a meet-and-greet with 12 of the candidates competing in the special primary for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District at Montclair State University on Nov. 11, 2025.(Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso/New Jersey Monitor)
Morris Township Deputy Mayor Jeff Grayzel speaks during a meet-and-greet with 12 of the candidates competing in the special primary for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District at Montclair State University on Nov. 11, 2025.(Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso/New Jersey Monitor)
Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway (Courtesy of the Hathaway campaign)
Ex-Rep. Tom Malinowski speaks during a meet-and-greet with 12 of the candidates competing in the special primary for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District at Montclair State University on Nov. 11, 2025.(Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso/New Jersey Monitor)
Ex-Sen. Bernie Sanders advisor Analilia Mejia speaks during a meet-and-greet with 12 of the candidates competing in the special primary for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District at Montclair State University on Nov. 11, 2025.(Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso/New Jersey Monitor)
Chatham Councilman Justin Strickland speaks during a meet-and-greet with 12 of the candidates competing in the special primary for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District at Montclair State University on Nov. 11, 2025.(Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso/New Jersey Monitor)
Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way speaks during a meet-and-greet with candidates competing in the special primary for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District at Montclair State University on Nov. 11, 2025. (Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso/New Jersey Monitor)
Community activist Anna Lee Williams speaks during a meet-and-greet with 12 of the candidates competing in the special primary for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District at Montclair State University on Nov. 11, 2025.(Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso/New Jersey Monitor)
