Today, the Garden State Equality Action Fund announced its first round of endorsements for the 2026 midterm elections. This initial list features 79 pro-equality candidates vying to represent New Jerseyans across municipal, county, and federal government, as well as school boards around the state.
“We’ve seen that some candidates nationally have caved to a perceived influence demanding that they shamelessly use our trans community in a cruel and pointless game of diminishing returns,” said Lauren Albrecht, senior director of advocacy and & organizing for GSE. “Each candidate on this list has pledged to stand up for our trans youth, fight dehumanizing federal law, push pro-equality policy forward locally, and engage in thoughtful dialogue with our community.”
“We want to thank everyone who’s applied for our endorsement and taken the time to engage in thoughtful dialogue,” said Brielle Winslow-Majette, acting executive director. “Our community deserves unequivocal allyship and representation and so our endorsement process must meet the moment.”
In New Jersey, you may vote early through Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. You may also vote By mail. Applications for Vote-By-Mail ballots must be received by Oct. 27, 2026. Ballots must be postmarked on or before Nov. 3, 2026, or they may be dropped in an official ballot drop box on or before 8 pm on Nov. 3, 2026. Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026 from 6 am to 8 pm.
All polling and drop box locations, as well as schedules, can be found at New Jersey Votes.
Below is the first round of GSE endorsements.
U.S. Congress
| Candidate | Congressional District |
| Donald Norcross* | 1 |
| Zack Mullock | 2 |
| Herb Conaway* | 3 |
| Rachel Peace | 4 |
| Josh Gottheimer* | 5 |
| Frank Pallone Jr.* | 6 |
| Rebecca Bennett | 7 |
| Rob Menendez* | 8 |
| Nellie Pou* | 9 |
| LaMonica McIver* | 10 |
| Analilia Mejia* | 11 |
| Adam Hamawy | 12 |
| Cory Booker* | U.S. Senate |
(*Incumbent)
Municipal and County
| County | Candidate | Office | Governing Body |
| Atlantic | ─── | ─── | ─── |
| Atlantic | Kyle Gornick | County Commissioner | County of Atlantic |
| Burlington | ─── | ─── | ─── |
| Burlington | Quinton Law | Councilmember | Moorestown Town Council |
| Burlington | Tom Bader | Councilmember | Moorestown Town Council |
| Burlington | Terrance P. Benson Sr | Committee Member | Lumberton Township Committee |
| Essex | ─── | ─── | ─── |
| Essex | Medinah Muhammad | Essex County Commissioner, District 3 | County of Essex |
| Essex | Justin Goldsman | Councilmember | West Orange Township Council |
| Essex | Bill Brazell | Committee Member | Millburn Township Committee |
| Essex | Victor DeLuca | Committee Member | Maplewood Township Committee |
| Essex | Christine McGrath | County Commissioner – At Large | County of Essex |
| Essex | Deb Engel | County Commissioner | County of Essex |
| Hunterdon | ─── | ─── | ─── |
| Hunterdon | Jason Blazakis | Hunterdon County Commissioner | County of Hunterdon |
| Hunterdon | John Kashwick | Councilmember | Township of Clinton Common Council |
| Hunterdon | Caitlin Giles-McCormick | County Clerk | County of Hunterdon |
| Hunterdon | Susan Engelhardt | Mayor | Borough of Flemington |
| Hunterdon | Rachael White | Committee Member | Raritan Township |
| Mercer | ─── | ─── | ─── |
| Mercer | Crystal Feliciano | At-Large Councilmember | City of Trenton Council |
| Mercer | Diane Gerofsky | County Surrogate | County of Mercer |
| Mercer | Bonne Giglio | Council Member | Lawrence Town Council |
| Middlesex | ─── | ─── | ─── |
| Middlesex | Ray Giacobbe | Mayor | City of Rahway |
| Monmouth | ─── | ─── | ─── |
| Monmouth | Jeremy Seideman | Committee Member | Middletown Township |
| Monmouth | Amy Quinn | Mayor | Asbury Park City Council |
| Monmouth | Erica DeKranes | Council Member | Allentown Borough Council |
| Monmouth | Bryan Acciani | Committee Member | Neptune Township Committee |
| Monmouth | Arlan Feiles | Council Member | Borough of Matawan Council |
| Monmouth | Danielle Mastropiero | Council Member | Keyport Borough Council |
| Monmouth | Pamela Renee | Council Member | Neptune City Council |
| Monmouth | Alyson Forbes | Council Member | Atlantic Highlands Borough Council |
| Monmouth | Sofia J. Ugarte | County Commissioner | County of Monmouth |
| Monmouth | Anthony L. Cherry | County Surrogate | County of Monmouth |
| Monmouth | Kathleen McNamara | Mayor | Borough of Keyport |
| Monmouth | Chelsey Tanner | County Comissioner | County of Monmouth |
| Morris | ─── | ─── | ─── |
| Morris | Ahmad Saleh | Committee Member | Hanover Township Committee |
| Morris | Chris Russo | Morris County Commissioner | County of Morris |
| Morris | Ana Duarte McCarthy | Committee Member | Bernards Township Committee |
| Morris | Krista Seanor | Council Member | Dover Town Council |
| Morris | Sandra Wittner | Council Member | Dover Town Council |
| Morris | Elizabeth Tapia | Council Member | Dover Town Council |
| Morris | Nicholas Eck | Council Member | Chatham Borough Council |
| Morris | Arianna “Sophia” Hull | Council Member | Chatham Borough Council |
| Morris | Benjamin Weisman | Council Member | Boonton Town Council |
| Ocean | ─── | ─── | ─── |
| Ocean | Leah Poinsett (Dani) | Committee Member | Little Egg Harbor Township Committee |
| Ocean | Christina Mertz | Council Member | South Toms River Borough Council |
| Ocean | Brett Murphy | Committee Member | Lacey township |
| Ocean | Gabriel Franco | Committee Member | Little Egg Harbor Township Committee |
| Somerset | ─── | ─── | ─── |
| Somerset | Douglas Herring | Committee Member | Montgomery Township Committee |
| Somerset | Patricia Taylor Todd | Committee Member | Montgomery Township |
| Somerset | Melissa Bellamy | Council Member | Manville Borough Council |
| Somerset | Daryl Eisenberg Knegten | Mayor | Watchung Borough |
| Somerset | Suezette Given | Council Member | Borough Council of North Plainfield |
| Somerset | Elizabeth Graner | County Commissioner | County of Somerset |
| Somerset | Joan Bannan | Committee Member | Bernards Township Committee |
| Somerset | Samantha Hand | Committee Member | Hillsborough Township Committee |
| Somerset | Steven McIntyre | Council Member | North Plainfield Borough Council |
Board of Education
County Name School District Bergen ─── ─── Bergen Christian M. Nowell Fort Lee Burlington ─── ─── Burlington Tracy Fox Evesham Township Burlington William Thompson Evesham Township Burlington David Bock Evesham Township Essex ─── ─── Essex Kevin Diaz South Orange-Maplewood Essex Liz Callahan South Orange – Maplewood Essex Will Meyer South Orange-Maplewood Middlesex ─── ─── Middlesex Nicole Longoria Stanio Highland Park Monmouth ─── ─── Monmouth Takiya Foster Asbury Park Monmouth Cary Dym Asbury Park Monmouth John (Johnny) Walker Asbury Park Morris ─── ─── Morris Jennifer Hernandez Morris Union ─── ─── Union Jansel Fuentes Jimenez Plainfield
Board of Education candidates may apply for the second round of endorsements.
The most up-to-date list of endorsements will be updated here.
