Tahesha Way
Tahesha Way (Democratic Party) is the Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey. She assumed office on September 8, 2023. Her current term ends on January 20, 2026.
Way (Democratic Party) is also the New Jersey Secretary of State. She assumed office on February 26, 2018. Her current term ends on January 20, 2026.
Way (Democratic Party) is running in a special election to the U.S. House to represent New Jersey's 11th Congressional District. She is on the ballot in the special Democratic primary on February 5, 2026.[source]
Gov. Phil Murphy (D) appointed Way Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey on September 8, 2023, to replace Sheila Oliver (D). [1]
Biography
As of 2023, Tahesha Way lived in Wayne, New Jersey. Way earned a degree from Brown University and a juris doctor from the University of Virginia. Her career experience includes working as an administrative law judge with the State of New Jersey, the freeholder director of the Passaic County Board of Chosen Freeholders, and a special counsel with the Passaic County Board of Social Services. Way has served as the president of the National Association of Secretaries of State, on the New Jersey Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council, and as the president of the Women Empowered Democratic Organization of Passaic County.[2]
2026 battleground election
Ballotpedia identified the February 5 special Democratic primary for New Jersey's 11th Congressional District as a battleground election. The summary below is from our coverage of this election, found here.
Eleven candidates are running in the special Democratic primary for New Jersey's 11th Congressional District on Feb. 5, 2026. John Bartlett (D), Brendan Gill (D), Tom Malinowski (D), Analilia Mejia (D), and Tahesha Way (D) lead in endorsements and media attention. The previous incumbent, Mikie Sherrill, resigned on Nov. 20, 2025, following her election as New Jersey's 57th governor.
The New York Times' Tracey Tully wrote that "the heightened level of candidate interest stems both from the rarity of an open seat in the middle of a congressional cycle and from New Jersey's recent changes to its primary ballot design, which weakened the power of local party leaders and helped to level the playing field for independent candidates."[3]
According to NJ Spotlight News' Colleen O'Dea, the district was "once considered a safe Republican district, it shifted for Democrats when Sherrill won a decisive victory in the 2018 blue wave, defeating state Assemblyman Jay Webber (R-Morris) after incumbent Republican Rodney Frelinghuysen retired that year."[4]
Bartlett was first elected to an at-large seat on the Passaic County Board of County Commissioners in 2012. He is also a partner at the law firm Murphy Orlando LLC.[5]
Bartlett's campaign website states that "at a time when our democracy is being tested, and Trump's MAGA Republicans are making life harder and more expensive for everyday Americans, John is ready to continue the fight for freedom, affordability, and opportunity."[6] The Passaic County Democratic Committee endorsed Bartlett.[7]
Gill was first elected to an at-large seat on the Essex County Board of County Commissioners in 2010. He is also the chief executive officer of the consulting firm, the BGill Group, and the chair of the Montclair Democratic County Committee.[8]
Gill said, "I'm running for Congress because our president, enabled by bootlickers in Congress and Wall Street, is wreaking havoc on our streets, hollowing out our economy, [and] tearing down our American values. I'm running to fight back against Donald Trump and his crooked buddies, and to make sure that everyone has a place at the table."[9] New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) and the Essex County Democratic Committee endorsed Gill.[10][11]
Malinowski represented New Jersey's 7th Congressional District from 2019 to 2023. He previously worked as a senior director on the National Security Council during the Clinton administration and as an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of State during the Obama administration.[12]
Malinowski said, "I feel very strongly that we need a Congress that will check the president's corruption and abuse of power, and go back to doing its job to build an economy that works for people bottom-up rather than billionaire-down. I've got the experience, I've done it before, and I'll be ready to do it effectively the day I'm elected."[13] U.S. Sen. Andrew Kim (D-N.J.) and the Morris County Democratic Committee endorsed Malinowski.[14][15]
Mejia is the co-director of the Center for Popular Democracy. She previously served as the deputy director of the Women's Bureau in the U.S. Department of Labor during the Biden administration and as political director on Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) 2020 presidential campaign.[16]
Mejia said, "Too many Democrats in Washington are selling us out and folding under pressure. Plain old blue just won't cut it anymore. We need real fighters in Congress, and I'm running to be a brawler for working families. I won't be afraid to stand up to Trump or his billionaire friends."[17] Sanders and Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka endorsed Mejia.[18]
Way was first appointed New Jersey Lieutenant Governor in 2023 and New Jersey Secretary of State in 2018. She served on the Passaic County Board of County Commissioners from 2008 to 2010 and as special counsel with the Passaic County Board of Social Services.[19]
Way said, "I've spent my entire life fighting for and protecting our right to vote, tackling New Jersey's affordability crisis, and ensuring access to health care. I'm the one with the proven results, and I can get it done, day one."[20] The Passaic County Democratic Committee endorsed Way.[7]
Zach Beecher (D), J-L Cauvin (D), Cammie Croft (D), Jeffrey Grayzel (D), Justin Strickland (D), and Anna Lee Williams (D) are also running in the special Democratic primary.
In New Jersey, the congressional candidate who wins the largest share of the vote wins the election. A congressional candidate does not need to win an outright majority to advance to the general election.
J-L Cauvin (D), Justin Strickland (D), and Anna Lee Williams (D) completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. To read those survey responses, click here.
As of January 19, 2026, ten special elections have been called for the 119th Congress. From the 113th Congress to the 118th Congress, 80 special elections were held. For more data on historical congressional special elections, click here.
Political career
Below is a list of offices within Ballotpedia’s scope. Offices outside of that scope will not be listed. If an update is needed and the office is within our scope, please contact us.
Way's political career includes the following offices:
- 2023-present: Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey
- 2018-present: New Jersey Secretary of State
Appointments
2023
Way was appointed to serve as the Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey by Governor of New Jersey Phil Murphy (D). She was sworn in on September 8, 2023 to replace Sheila Oliver, who died on August 1, 2023. [21]
2018
Way was nominated to serve as the New Jersey Secretary of State on December 18, 2017, by then-Governor-elect Phil Murphy (D). She was sworn in on February 26, 2018, after her nomination was confirmed by the New Jersey State Senate.[22]
Elections
2026
See also: New Jersey's 11th Congressional District special election, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on February 5, 2026. The general election will occur on April 16, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
Democratic primary
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
Special Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 11
The following candidates are running in the special Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 11 on February 5, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | John Bartlett | |
 | Zach Beecher | |
 | J-L Cauvin  | |
| Cammie Croft | ||
| Dean Dafis (Withdrew, appeared on ballot) | ||
 | Brendan Gill | |
 | Jeffrey Grayzel | |
 | Tom Malinowski | |
 | Analilia Mejia | |
 | Justin Strickland | |
 | Tahesha Way | |
 | Anna Lee Williams | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Marc Chaaban (D)
- Joseph Lewis (D)
- Kennedy Pivnick (D)
Republican primary
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
Special Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 11
Joe Hathaway (R) is running in the special Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 11 on February 5, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| Joe Hathaway | ||
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Polls
- See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
Polls are conducted with a variety of methodologies and have margins of error or credibility intervals.[23] The Pew Research Center wrote, "A margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level means that if we fielded the same survey 100 times, we would expect the result to be within 3 percentage points of the true population value 95 of those times."[24] For tips on reading polls from FiveThirtyEight, click here. For tips from Pew, click here.
Below we provide results for polls from a wide variety of sources, including media outlets, social media, campaigns, and aggregation websites, when available. We only report polls for which we can find a margin of error or credibility interval. Know of something we're missing? Click here to let us know.
| Poll | Dates | Bartlett | Beecher | Gill | Grayzel | Malinowski | Mejia | Way | Other | Undecided | Sample size | Margin of error | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GQR Research NoteHypothetical special Democratic primary election poll. | – | 2 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 14 | 31 | 400 LV | ± 5.4% | Tom Malinowski (D) |
| Note: LV is likely voters, RV is registered voters, and EV is eligible voters. | |||||||||||||
Campaign spending
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Bartlett | Democratic Party | $182 | $23,572 | $166,271 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Zach Beecher | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| J-L Cauvin | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Cammie Croft | Democratic Party | $187,726 | $11,114 | $176,612 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Dean Dafis | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Brendan Gill | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Jeffrey Grayzel | Democratic Party | $339,506 | $21,721 | $317,785 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Tom Malinowski | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Analilia Mejia | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Justin Strickland | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Tahesha Way | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Anna Lee Williams | Democratic Party | $21,219 | $10,572 | $10,647 | As of September 30, 2025 |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
|||||
Satellite spending
- See also: Satellite spending
Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[25][26][27]
If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.
| By candidate | By election |
|---|---|
Endorsements
Way received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
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Campaign advertisements
Ballotpedia did not come across any campaign ads for Tahesha Way while conducting research on this election. If you are aware of any ads that should be included, please email us.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
| New Jersey | State Executive Elections | News and Analysis |
|---|---|---|
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External links
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Candidate U.S. House New Jersey District 11 |
Officeholder Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Associated Press, "Tahesha Way sworn in as New Jersey’s lieutenant governor after death of Sheila Oliver," September 8, 2023
- ↑ NJ Department of State, "About the Lt. Governor," accessed October 3, 2023
- ↑ The New York Times, "The Race for Mikie Sherrill’s House Seat Is On, and It’s Crowded," November 26, 2025
- ↑ NJ Spotlight News, "Voters to choose Sherrill’s congressional replacement on April 16," November 21, 2025
- ↑ LinkedIn, "John Bartlett," accessed January 4 2026
- ↑ John Bartlett 2026 Campaign Website, "About," accessed January 4, 2026
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 New Jersey Globe, "Passaic Dems Give Party Slogan To Way, Bartlett In NJ-11 Special Primary," December 3, 2025
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Brendan W. Gill," accessed January 4, 2026
- ↑ New Jersey Globe, "Brendan Gill Enters Race For Sherrill’s House Seat, With Huge Array Of Dems Already Behind Him," November 6, 2025
- ↑ New Jersey globe, "Phil Murphy Backs Brendan Gill, His Old Campaign Manager, In NJ-11 Special Election," November 17, 2025
- ↑ New Jersey Globe, "Brendan Gill Wins Essex Democratic Endorsement After Tangled Virtual Convention," December 2, 2025
- ↑ Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, "Tom Malinowski," accessed January 4, 2026
- ↑ New Jersey Globe, "Tom Malinowski makes it official: He’s running to succeed Mikie Sherrill," November 6, 2025
- ↑ New Jersey Globe, "Tom Malinowski’s Comeback Campaign Earns Endorsement From Andy Kim," November 17 2025
- ↑ New Jersey Globe, "Morris County Democrats Vote To Endorse Malinowski," December 15 2025
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Analilia Mejia," accessed January 4, 2026
- ↑ New Jersey Globe, "Analilia Mejia Will Run For NJ-11 With Backing From Bernie Sanders," November 25 2025
- ↑ Analilia Mejia 2026 Campaign Website, "Endorsements," accessed January 4, 2026
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Tahesha Way," accessed January 4, 2026
- ↑ New Jersey Globe, "Tahesha Way Makes Formal Entrance Into NJ-11 Race With Major Endorsements In Hand," December 2, 2025
- ↑ Associated Press, "Tahesha Way sworn in as New Jersey’s lieutenant governor after death of Sheila Oliver," September 8, 2023
- ↑ State of New Jersey Department of State, "About the Secretary," accessed August 5, 2018
- ↑ For more information on the difference between margins of error and credibility intervals, see explanations from the American Association for Public Opinion Research and Ipsos.
- ↑ Pew Research Center, "5 key things to know about the margin of error in election polls," September 8, 2016
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," December 12, 2021
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sheila Oliver (D) |
Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey 2023-Present |
Succeeded by Dale Caldwell (D) |
| Preceded by Kimberly Guadagno (R) |
New Jersey Secretary of State 2018-Present |
Succeeded by - |
