For Immediate Release
December 31, 2025
South Orange and Maplewood, NJ – SOMA Action, a leading progressive grassroots organization based in South Orange and Maplewood, has released its voter guide and candidate evaluations for the upcoming 2026 Democratic special election primary.
View the guide at somaaction.org/voter-guide.
“This is the most comprehensive guide we’ve ever done,” said Erika Malinoski (no relation to Tom Malinowski), Co-President and main author of the guide. “With only one race to focus on, we were able to interview all twelve candidates and summarize where they each stand on eleven different criteria that are important to our committees.”
In addition to the evaluations, the guide contains extensive background information about the race as well as links to candidates’ websites, interview recordings, and financial disclosures.
“I really encourage voters to think critically about the criteria we used as well as looking at the ratings,” Malinoski continued. “We color coded candidates green (aligned) and pink (not aligned) on various questions related to our criteria, but there’s a lot of diversity on the left regarding what we think the ‘right’ solutions are. I hope these resources encourage our residents to engage in thoughtful conversations about what we want and why, not just who.”
To support that exploration, the guide includes an interactive overview tool where voters can customize the list of questions important to them and add their own research.
“At this point in our nation’s history, we need to go beyond simply being informed voters,” Malinoski finished. “Everyone decries how money in politics is warping our government in service of the wealthy, but what people don’t realize is that we have the power to do something about that. The vast majority of campaign dollars are spent on ads and mailers, none of which have any impact on people who have access to better, more reliable information that lets them connect their values with their vote. We can money-proof our towns not just by being individually informed ourselves, but by making sure everyone on our street is an informed voter regardless of whom they vote for.”
SOMA Action encourages other groups to produce their own transparent, well supported evaluations as well. SOMA Action will also be supporting SOMA residents to talk to their neighbors and get out the vote on their street.
“Democracy depends on ordinary people building relationships with their neighbors and having meaningful conversations,” said Allison Posner, Co-President of SOMA Action. “Our neighbors are the people who have our backs, whether its lending a snow blower or coming to help during an ICE raid. Instead of shoveling hundreds of thousands of advertising dollars into Facebook’s pockets and having nothing to show for it when the election is over, we should be campaigning in ways that make our communities stronger regardless of what happens on election day.”
To be notified when the Get Out the Vote tools become available, please sign up for the SOMA Action e-blast at somaaction.org.
For an additional opportunity to meet candidates and be involved in the election, please attend SOMA Action’s All Hands Meeting on January 14th at the Maplewood Memorial Library. RSVP here.
The 2026 Democratic Special Election Primary will take place on THURSDAY, February 5th. Registered Democrats may vote by mail or in person, with early voting beginning on Thursday, Jan 29th. Unaffiliated voters can participate by visiting a polling site in person and requesting to affiliate as a Democrat. Registered Republicans are not eligible to vote in the Democratic primary.
View the complete voter guide at www.somaaction.org/voter-guide
For more information or to report any errors or omissions, please contact [email protected].
