Progressive group launches statewide candidate recruitment effort

New Jersey Globe · David Wildstein · September 9, 2026

A statewide effort is underway to recruit progressive candidates to run for State Senate and Assembly in 2027 who can mount campaigns without the backing of county political organizations and established party networks in Democratic primaries.

New Jersey Working Families, a grassroots organization funded by progressive-leaning groups, wants to train and support candidates “in open seats, safe blue districts, and against incumbents who’ve lost touch with the working families they’re supposed to represent.” They are planning a candidate bootcamp next month.

Next year’s election will be the first with the entire 120-member legislature up since U.S. District Court Judge Zahid Quraishi ended New Jersey’s county line system in 2024, saying it created an unconstitutional burden on candidates running without party organization support.

“We have a real opportunity here to make New Jersey politics finally work for working people. Voters know the system is broken, and as we’re seeing all over the country, they’re hungry for leaders who are going to do something about it,” said Antoinette Miles, state director of the New Jersey Working Families Party. “We’re looking for everyday people who are ready to fight for their neighbors and stand up to corporate special interests in Trenton. If that’s you or someone you know, we want to hear from you.”

The effort follows a series of victories by candidates backed by the Working Families Party and other progressive organizations in municipal, legislative and congressional races, including contests in Jersey City and elsewhere in New Jersey.

Miles said the group’s goal is to develop a larger pool of candidates who can compete in districts where Democratic nominees have traditionally faced little primary opposition.

“People want something to vote for, not just against, and they’re not getting that from the establishment,” Miles said. “We’re presenting a new vision for how to do politics in our state, one that’s rooted in independent leadership that fights for us, not the machine or the corporations that keep it running.”

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