The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) is running two candidates in New Jersey’s 2026 Congress election, and both have experience on the federal campaign trail.
Joanne Kuniansky and Craig Honts recently filed for ballot status in Trenton, turning in 3,000 signatures for the U.S. Senate race and 400 signatures for the U.S. House of Representatives race in the 8th District.
Kuniansky is running for Senate against Cory Booker, the incumbent Democrat, and Justin Murphy, the Republican nominee. Other third-party and independent candidates include Natlie Rivera, Veronica Fernandez and Justin Maldonado.
Honts is running for a U.S. House of Representatives seat in the 8th District, which includes most of Hudson County, part of Newark in Essex County, and Elizabeth in Union County. The Democratic incumbent – Rob Menendez Jr. – won a primary election on June 2. No Republican candidate filed to run in the primary. Two independent candidates recently filed petitions in the district: Aristotle Eliopoulos and Da’Shone Hughey.
According to a campaign statement from Kuniansky and Honts, they are calling for a break with the Democratic and Republican parties that “uphold the system of capitalist exploitation and the wars it breeds.” They have rallied for immigrant rights, and are pushing for jobs with wages, hours and conditions that allow workers to afford the rising cost of living. Their international stances include calling for “U.S. troops, warships and bases out of the Middle East.”
JOANNE KUNIANSKY
Garden State voters might recognize Kuniansky from her former campaigns. She ran for governor against Phil Murphy in 2021 and Mikie Sherrill in 2025, ran a campaign for U.S. Senate in 2024, and was a candidate for a New Jersey Senate seat in 2023.
The first time that she attempted to run for governor, Kuniansky was employed as a deli worker at Walmart, a gig that offered a stark contrast to Murphy’s pedigree from Goldman Sachs. The longtime labor organizer has also worked in oil refineries and the meat packing industry. Read More: Meet The Socialist Walmart Worker Running For NJ Governor
Kuniansky previously said that her jobs have given her a front-row perspective on the fight for labor equality – a cornerstone of her campaign.
Although she’s no longer grinding out hours at Walmart, the SWP candidate previously told Patch that she has continued to support her working-class peers in New Jersey, including striking transit workers, flight attendants and postal workers.
“I became attracted to the working class as the force that could make fundamental change,” Kuniansky said.
CRAIG HONTS
Honts, a factory worker and member of the Bakery Confectionery Tobacco and Grain Millers union, is also familiar with the campaign trail, having run alongside Kuniansky for last year’s gubernatorial bid.
Honts joined the SWP in 1971 after participating in protests against the killing of students at Kent State university who were demonstrating against the U.S. war in Vietnam.
“I came to realize working people need to take political power here to put an end to U.S. imperialism’s wars for all time,” he said.
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