Maplewood Township Committee member and former Mayor Dean Dafis officially kicked off his campaign for the special election to fill Governor-Elect Mikie Sherrill’s Congressional seat on Saturday, November 15.
Speaking before a crowd gathered in the Jim Buchanan Room at the Park Wood Diner on Springfield Avenue in Maplewood, Dafis extolled his working class bona fides: “My parents worked multiple jobs to make ends meet and build a home for our family. They mopped floors, cleaned dishes, did pretty much any job so that they could save up and start their own business–a diner just like the one we’re in today.”
“We deserve a representative who has personal lived experience in the struggles of working and middle class families, a first-generation American who believes in the promise of the American Dream, a fighter to put people over power, community investment over markets, a change maker in pursuit of stronger safety nets for New Jerseyans,” said Dafis.
According to a press release recounting the event, Dafis presented a policy platform “centered on empowering working families by focusing on affordability and opportunity.”
“Let’s face it folks; housing is the foundation for everything. In Trenton, I work each day to help people stay in their homes,” said Dafis. “But there’s more to be done, especially while we’re at the edge of a cliff with Donald Trump and MAGA extremists leaving our state $400 million short in federal funding for social services and housing programs.”
Deb Engel, Vic De Luca, Malia Herman, Dean Dafis, Jane Collins-Colding, Garnett Hall
Dafis was introduced by Erin Scherzer, a founder of the Maplewood Community Board on Police. Scherzer credited Dafis with getting the board established, and noted that it was one of the first in a New Jersey suburb and a model for other municipalities.
Dafis joins a crowded Democratic primary field in the special election for Sherrill’s seat representing NJ-11. 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.
Erin Scherzer with De Luca, Dafis and Herman
Sherrill will be sworn in as Governor on January 20, 2026, and announced that she will resign from Congress this week — allowing Gov. Murphy to call a special election. According to the New Jersey Globe, the state has between 70 and 76 days to hold a primary once a special election is declared by Murphy, followed by a special general election that needs to take place between 64 and 70 days after the primary,
If elected, Dafis would be NJ’s first LGBT member of Congress. When he was chosen by his Township Committee peers in 2021, Dafis became Maplewood’s first LGBT Mayor in 2022. Read Village Green’s profile of Dafis here:
