Letter To Editor: Why I'm Supporting Brendan Gill For Congress

The following is a letter to the editor from Henry Mielarczyk:

As the Vice-Chair of the Pequannock Democrats, Chair of the Morris Progressive Caucus, and the youngest member of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee, I’ve spent years organizing on the grassroots level for progressive candidates. In my personal capacity as a citizen, I believe that Brendan Gill is the right choice for progressive voters in Morris County.

In the lead-up to the 1936 Presidential election, FDR said that to defeat fascism at the ballot box, American democracy “must become a positive force in the daily lives of its people”. This electoral strategy from the heyday of progressive politics may serve us again in our present moment. To convince disillusioned voters to believe again, to believe in democracy and in the Democratic Party, we have to convince these voters that we can actually improve their daily lives.

Brendan Gill has spent his career in public service improving people’s lives. As an Essex County Commissioner, he spearheaded the Essex-Hudson Greenway, kicked ICE out of county correctional facilities, and implemented rigorous pedestrian safety standards for county road projects. These are impressive policy wins that have made people’s lives better.

Brendan is an effective progressive, with an emphasis on effective. He is pro-transit, pro-union, will fight to tax massive corporations, but most importantly, he will get progressive policies across the finish line because that is what he has spent his career doing.

On February 5th, I hope progressive voters will join me in voting for Brendan Gill to be the

Democratic Nominee in New Jersey’s 11th congressional district.

- Henry Mielarczyk