Former House Democrat targets Trump in bid for political comeback

Former Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski is taking aim at President Donald Trump as he launches a bid to return to Congress.

Malinowski, a former two-term congressman who previously served as a diplomat and State Department official in President Barack Obama’s administration, on Thursday declared his candidacy for the soon-to-be vacant seat in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District.

The seat is currently held by Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill, who convincingly won Tuesday’s gubernatorial election in New Jersey. Sherrill will be inaugurated as the Garden State’s next governor on Jan. 20, which will trigger a special election to fill her congressional seat.

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“I’m running to deliver again what New Jerseyans need — better and lower cost health care, housing, and transportation — and to take on Trump’s corruption, abuse of power, and attacks on democracy. I will be ready for the fight from day one,” Malinowski said in his campaign launch video.

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And he added that “I’m running for Congress again to pick up where my friend left off, to repeal these mindless tariffs that are raising prices for every New Jerseyan.”

Malinowski was first elected to Congress in 2018, in the neighboring 7th District, which is a top swing seat. He flipped the seat from red to blue by topping incumbent GOP Rep. Leonard Lance.

Two years later, Malinowski narrowly won re-election over New Jersey Senate Republican leader Thomas Kean Jr. But in 2022, he lost a rematch with Kean by nearly two points.

Malinowski joins a growing field of Democrats aiming to succeed Sherrill in the northern New Jersey-based 11th District.

Sherrill flipped the district in her 2018 victory, and won re-election by 6 points two years later. But she comfortably won re-election in 2022 and last year by double digits.

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Asked by Fox News Digital on Tuesday about the timing of when she would resign her seat and when, after she takes over as governor, she would call for a special congressional election, Sherrill said, “We’ll be in touch with the leadership of the House to make sure that we’re doing that as smoothly as possible for the people of New Jersey.”