LGBTQ+ voters in New Jersey have the power to change outcomes for our community, particularly our LGBTQ+ youth, and ensure an environment in which LGBTQ+ advocates are able to continue the forward movement of LGBTQ+ rights under a hostile federal government. Our youth are counting on us to say no to politicians who will take our rights, restrict our freedoms, and incite violence against us.
As we gear up to vote in the 2026 election, voters have some big decisions to make. Garden State Equality wants to make sure that New Jersey’s LGBTQ+ voters and our allies have everything you need to cast your vote on or before Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
For Voters
2026 General Election Timeline
| September 19 | Vote-by-mail begins |
| October 13 | Voter registration deadline |
| October 24 – November 1 | Early In-Person Voting Period |
| October 27 | Vote-by-mail ballot request deadline |
| November 2 | Overseas/Military vote-by-mail mailing deadline |
| November 3 | Election Day |
How to Vote
In New Jersey, you have three ways to vote:
- Early In-Person Voting: through Sunday, November 1, 2026
- Vote By Mail:
- Applications for Vote-By-Mail ballots must be received by October 27, 2026
- Ballots must be postmarked on or before November 3, 2026, OR
- Ballots must be dropped in an official ballot drop box on or before 8 pm on November 3, 2026
- Election Day In-Person Voting: Tuesday, November 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.
If you are a first time voter, please review our First Time Voter Guide and Happy Voting!
Going to the Polls
- Refrain from wearing or bringing political attire (T-shirts promoting any candidate or party, banners, signs, etc) – this is considered politicking and is against the law.
- You are not required to show ID to vote in New Jersey unless you are a first time voter who registered by mail. If you are a first-time voter who registered by mail, you may be required to show proof of ID once if you did not provide it when you registered. If you are asked for it and you don’t want to provide it, you can say no, and they cannot turn you away for failure to provide it.
- Do not return a mail-in ballot at the polling station. Return your mail-in ballot in a drop box.
- If your poll worker cannot locate your name on the voter roll when voting in-person, or if there is a failure of the voting machine, the polling station is required to allow you to vote by way of a provisional ballot.
2026 Endorsements
While 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, 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.
Candidates can still apply to be considered for the second round of endorsements.
Congressional candidates can apply here.
Municipal and County candidates can apply here.
Board of Education candidates can apply here.
Below is the most up-to-date list of candidates endorsed by the Garden State Equality Action Fund. (Last updated: 9/25/2026)
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)
Congressional candidates can apply here to be considered for the next round of endorsements.
Municipal & County
| County | Candidate | Office | Governing Body |
| Atlantic | ─── | ─── | ─── |
| Atlantic | Kyle Gornick | County Commissioner | County of Atlantic |
| Atlantic | Elizabeth “Lisa” Bender | County Clerk | 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 |
| Burlington | Luke Pavlov | Committee Member | Chesterfield 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 Committee |
| Hunterdon | Adam Pianka | Committee Member | Raritan Township Committee |
| Hunterdon | Jennifer Fink | Committee Member | Lebanon Borough Council |
| Hunterdon | Lisa Porcello | Committee Member | Lebanon Borough Council |
| 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 |
| Mercer | W. Reed Gusciora | Mayor | City of Trenton |
| Mercer | Nakia White Barr | County Commissioner | Mercer County Board of Commissioners |
| 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 Commissioner | County of Monmouth |
| Monmouth | James “Jim” McCue | Council Member | Matawan Borough |
| Monmouth | Garrett Giberson* | Council Member | Asbury Park City Council |
| Monmouth | Al DiGiulio* | Council Member | Asbury Park City Council |
| (*Two endorsements for one seat; pick either.) | |||
| Morris | ─── | ─── | ─── |
| Morris | Ahmad Saleh | Committee Member | Hanover Township Committee |
| Morris | Chris Russo | Morris County Commissioner | County of Morris |
| 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 |
| Somerset | Ana Duarte McCarthy | Committee Member | Bernards Township Committee |
| Somerset | Paul Drake | County Commissioner | County of Somerset |
| Union | ─── | ─── | ─── |
| Union | Ray Giacobbe | Mayor | City of Rahway |
| Union | Jeff Brooks | Council Member | Rahway City Council |
| Union | Lourdes Leon | County Commissioner | County of Union |
Municipal and County candidates can apply here to be considered for the next round of endorsements.
Board of Education
| County | Name | School District |
| Bergen | ─── | ─── |
| Bergen | Christian M. Nowell | Fort Lee |
| Bergen | Amy Ko-Tang | 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 |
| Middlesex | Sara Pixley | Highland Park |
| Middlesex | Ethan Schoolman | 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 |