In the verdant, politically fluid hills of Hunterdon County, a local political scrum has erupted with the kind of biting wit that reveals more than any solemn press release ever could.
The target is Tom Malinowski, the former congressman and once globe-trotting human rights official, now labeled by a critic as the architect of his own “Participation Trophy Tour.”
The barb comes from Joey Novick, a former chairman of the very county Democratic committee Malinowski led for a brief, five-month tenure before resigning last November.
Novick has been an elected official, an attorney, and a professional stand-up comedian who has opened for greats like Jerry Seinfeld and performed on MTV and Comedy Central.
Novick’s critique, delivered with the surgical precision of a political veteran who knows where the soft spots are, centers on a stark question of political loyalty and geographic convenience.
Malinowski, who represented the 7th Congressional District from 2019 to 2023, introduced two bills that became law in the 116th Congress and zero during the 117th Congress.
His career as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor was marked by a zeal that saw him expelled from Bahrain in 2014 for meeting with opposition leaders.
In Congress, his focus on foreign affairs and economic issues was overshadowed by fines for stock trading violations. His opponents weaponized those late disclosures, and although investigators found no insider trading, many constituents were outraged that he spent time making hundreds of stock transactions while the economy suffered during the pandemic.
Redistricting ultimately tilted his district toward Republicans, and he lost to Tom Kean Jr. in 2022.
After a fleeting stint as Hunterdon County Democratic chairman, Malinowski has now launched a campaign for Congress again, but not here.
While former Bernie Sanders campaign political director Analilia Mejia seems to have consolidated progressive support in a large field of candidates, Malinowski has money that could be a deciding factor in the condensed time frame for the special election in a neighboring region.
He is running for the 11th District seat being vacated by Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill, a move Novick characterizes as pure political carpetbagging.
“He ascended to chair of the Hunterdon County Democrats,” wrote Novick with dripping irony. “Now look, as a former chair myself, I can tell you it’s a ‘tremendously’ prestigious position—not quite up there with ‘Assistant Manager at a Wawa,’ but certainly higher than ‘Guy Who Knows the Jughandle Shortcuts.’”
The core of Novick’s indictment is a perceived betrayal of locality.
“He ditched us in Hunterdon. Completely,” Novick stated.
Malinowski’s decision to run in the 11th District, which covers parts of Essex, Morris, and Passaic counties, rather than attempt a third rematch against Kean in the 7th, is framed not as a strategy but as abandonment.
“I always thought Tom should have run against Kean Jr. a third time,” Novick contended, arguing the political difficulty was comparable to Malinowski’s initial 2018 victory. “But Tom skedaddled over to CD-11 faster than the Jets lose a game in the first quarter.”
The offense is compounded, in Novick’s view, by the former chairman’s ongoing fundraising appeals to the Hunterdon Democrats he no longer seeks to represent.
“You don’t want to represent us, but you DO want our money?” Novick asked. “That’s like breaking up with someone and then asking them to keep paying your car insurance.”
Malinowski’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Novick’s broadside, however, underscores a raw nerve in politics: the tension between personal ambition and local obligation.
It frames Malinowski’s journey from human rights envoy to congressman to county chairman to a candidate in a new district as less a heroic return and more a calculated hopscotch.
In doing so, it questions whether a politician known for confronting foreign autocrats has lost the thread of homegrown accountability.
The voters, first in the 11th District primary and perhaps still watching from the 7th, will ultimately render their verdict.
The 12 Democratic candidates are:
- Co-Exec. Director of Popular Democracy Analilia Mejia, analiliafornj.com
- Passaic County Commissioner John Bartlett, johnbartlett.com
- Army Reserve member Zach Beecher, zachbeecher.com
- Community advocate, lawyer & comedian J-L Cauvin, jlfornj.com
- Former Obama administration staffer Cammie Croft, cammieforcongress.com
- Former Maplewood Mayor Dean Dafis, dafisforcongress.com
- Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill, gillfornj.com
- Morris Township Committee member Jeff Grayzel, grayzelforcongress.com
- Former NJ-7 Congressman Tom Malinowski: malinowskifornj.com
- Chatham Councilman Justin Strickland, justinstrickland.com
- NJ Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State Tahesha Way, taheshaway.com
- Activist Anna Lee Williams, annaleewilliams.com
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