Six candidates are running in the June 2 Democratic primary for 4 Commissioner At Large seats on the Essex County Commission: Deb Engel, running with Essex Reform Democrats; Marques-Aquil Lewis, Moving Essex County Forward; and four candidates endorsed by the Essex County Democratic Committee Inc. — Christine McGrath, Abdur R. Yasin, Shawn Klein, and the sole incumbent Wayne Richardson. Read Village Green’s election guidelines here.
Deb Engel is a candidate for Essex County Commissioner At-Large running as an Essex Reform Democrat. A longtime Maplewood and South Orange community leader, Engel is a former Maplewood Deputy Mayor, small business owner, and mother of three whose campaign is focused on affordability, infrastructure, transparency, and regional collaboration.
For more than 13 years, Engel has been active in civic and community life across Maplewood and South Orange. She served three years on the Maplewood Township Committee, including one year as Deputy Mayor, and served on the executive leadership team of South Orange Downtown, formerly known as the South Orange Village Center Alliance, including one year as chair of the board.
Engel also founded two local businesses: Work and Play, a coworking space with childcare in South Orange, and General Store Cooperative, a co-retail incubator on Springfield Avenue in Maplewood designed to support emerging small businesses. She also produced the South Orange Holiday Pop-Up Shops in 2018 and 2019, bringing together more than 75 local businesses and generating more than $100,000 in gross sales for the local economy.
Engel says her campaign is rooted in practical problem-solving and bringing people together around shared challenges facing Essex County residents.
“We are facing an affordability crisis,” Engel said. “Healthcare, housing, groceries, utilities, insurance, and transportation costs are overwhelming families, including many people who appear financially stable but are quietly struggling behind the scenes.”
As a commissioner, Engel says she would focus on expanding shared services and improving coordination between municipalities to reduce costs and increase efficiency. During her time in Maplewood, she helped champion collaborative efforts between Maplewood and South Orange, including a public health services agreement between the two municipalities.
Engel also points to her record on infrastructure, walkability, and community development. She helped reinvigorate a long-stalled project securing easements for the first phase of the Rahway River Greenway pedestrian pathway connecting Maplewood and South Orange. She also led activation and beautification efforts at Yale Corner, including a large-scale community asphalt mural created with participation from more than 200 residents of all ages.
She was also an advocate for Maplewood’s new dedicated bike lanes on Parker Avenue and the upcoming lanes on Dunnell Road, helping convene a working group to navigate challenges and build community support for the projects.
Her platform includes investments in complete streets, pedestrian and bike infrastructure, flood mitigation, public transportation access, and electric vehicle infrastructure. Engel says county government should take a more active role in helping municipalities collaborate on regional flooding and stormwater management solutions.
Engel has also called for the closure of Delaney Hall, arguing that Essex County cannot remain silent while families are separated and people are detained under inhumane conditions in its own backyard. She says county government should take a more active role in supporting detainees and their families, including expanding access to medical and social services, increasing transparency around conditions at the facility, and supporting the volunteers and advocates already doing critical work on the ground in Newark.
In addition to her government and business work, Engel says she is running on a platform of greater independence and transparency in county government.
“I’m running because I believe Essex County residents deserve leadership that is independent, transparent, collaborative, and grounded in the real experiences of everyday people,” Engel said.
Engel has received endorsements and distinctions from Sierra Club, SOMa Action, PMU Local 359, Nutley Democratic Action, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, South Orange Mayor Sheena Collum, the entire South Orange Village Council (Patricia Canning, Jennifer Greenberg, Bill Haskins, Summer Jones, Olivia Lewis-Chang, and Hannah Zollman), Maplewood Deputy Mayor Malia Herman, Maplewood Township Committeewoman and former Mayor Nancy Adams, former Maplewood Mayor Frank McGehee, former Maplewood Deputy Mayor Jamaine Cripe, former South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education President Nubia DuVall Wilson, Bloomfield Councilwoman-at-Large Tracy Toler-Phillips, and is supported by other local elected and community leaders throughout Essex County. She was also named a 2026 Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate.
