Dean Dafis, current member of the Maplewood Township Committee and a former Maplewood Mayor, announced on November 12 that he is running for Congress.
If elected or even nominated, Dafis’s bid will be historic. Dafis would be both the first LGBT Democratic nominee for Congress from New Jersey and the first LGBT member of Congress from New Jersey.
Dafis joins a crowded Democratic primary field in the race to fill U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill‘s seat in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional district, following her election as Governor of New Jersey. Sherrill will be sworn in as Governor on January 20, 2026, but, according to the New Jersey Globe, the special primary election to fill her seat would not happen until late January or early February, with the special general election sometime in April.
Besides Dafis, those declaring for the Democratic primary include former diplomat and NJ-7 Congressman Tom Malinowski, Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill, Passaic County Commissioner John Bartlett (D-Wayne), Morris Township Committeeman Jeff Grayzel, former Obama administration official Cammie Croft, and community advocate Anna Lee Williams. Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway is the first Republican to launch a bid for NJ-11.
Since June, the Globe has also been reporting that South Orange Mayor Sheena Collum is a “potential” candidate, but that appears unlikely — on November 12, Collum hosted a birthday party fundraiser for the South Orange Public Library with Malinowski in attendance.
In his launch video and press release, Dafis highlighted his lived experience as an immigrant, as the son of blue collar owners of a Philadelphia diner, and as a gay man.
“In Washington we need more people with lived experience in the struggle and in making government work for people. We need proven fighters, effective leaders,” said Dafis.
From DafisForCongress.com:
MAPLEWOOD, N.J. – Maplewood Township Committee Member and former mayor Dean Dafis entered the race for Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill’s seat in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District. Running on a pro-democracy, working class platform, in his launch video, he shared his story as a first-generation, Greek-American who started his career in legal aid and moved on to civil rights advocacy and political organizing.
As a progressive voice grounded in community investment, service, and local accountability, he announced his campaign with a vision serving communities as a representative who will fight for NJ-11’s working class families.
Raised in blue collar, downtown Philadelphia to immigrant parents, Dean grew up fighting for his parents’ standing and access as they climbed the social and economic ladders, as well as for his own human dignity as a gay man. “We’re a nation of immigrants, who came here for opportunity and freedom, but under Trump and MAGA, hardworking immigrants like my parents are terrorized, hunted, and detained,” Dean explained. “The aspirational beacon of hope and possibility, of a shining city on a hill has been replaced by a plutocracy filled with cruelty, division, and darkness.”
He learned the value of hard work and the importance of community service at his family’s diner. “While we definitely struggled to make ends meet, back then the American Dream seemed reachable,” Dean remarked. “Today, that same dream is out of reach for far too many working families. Housing, groceries, childcare–the basic essentials–continue to skyrocket, while MAGA Republicans give giant tax breaks to their billionaire buddies and dismantle support systems that help people get by.”
After graduating law school, he started his career in legal aid before moving on and battling economic injustice and corruption on Wall Street as a securities litigator during the accounting scandals of the dot-com bubble. After the crash of 2008 and stints in Big Law, Dean turned to non-profit advocacy and community and political organizing on local issues. He later moved into national issue campaigns, including banning gay conversion therapy where his testimony was informed by his own experience as a survivor.
Dean was part of the marriage equality fight in the Garden State and across the nation, which is a right that was only temporarily spared by the alt-Right Supreme Court earlier this week. A passionate fighter against autocracy, he would be New Jersey’s first out LGBTQ+ representative in Washington at a time when the community is targeted across the nation with leaders in Congress failing to stand up for equality and allowing states to roll back basic human rights.
As an elected official, Dean established the Garden State’s first suburban community police board, which has since been replicated by many other towns. During Covid-19, he supported small businesses with swift acting policies that helped protect jobs and local investment. Over his tenure in Maplewood, he has transformed local zoning rules, dismantling barriers to economic development and entrepreneurship. He has also centered public health in all decision making, created opportunities for youth engagement, successfully advocated for missing middle housing and aging in place initiatives along with affordable housing development, and became a leading voice for student athletes and strong public education.
In his professional role, he advises fellow elected officials and policymakers on initiatives, fortifying safe and secure housing as a pathway to upward mobility. His comprehensive statewide network in homelessness prevention has been highly effective in keeping residents housed, and in expanding their access to legal advice and representation.
“In Washington we need more people with lived experience in the struggle and in making government work for people. We need proven fighters, effective leaders,” Dafis added. Concerned that Governor-elect Sherrill will be inheriting a state budget at a time of massive federal cuts that threaten defunding vital programs for working families, Dean is prepared to hit the ground running.
“New Jersey is at the edge of a cliff. Funding for our schools, critical infrastructure investments, housing and healthcare supports–they’re all on the chopping block. Without the promised money from Washington, our state budget can’t fill these gaps. I’m going to Washington to speak truth to power, put people over process, community investment over markets, and build new and sustainable safety nets for working people.”
