Ali Aljarrah Concedes Race for Passaic County Commissioner

Aljarrah, who ran an insurgent primary campaign without the support of the Passaic County Democratic machine, gained the support of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.

CLIFTON, NJ — Tonight, Ali Aljarrah delivered a concession in his race for Passaic County Commissioner.

Aljarrah, a senior advisor for the Council for American-Islamic Relations who ran with the backing of the NJ Working Families Party and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, faced the full weight of the party machine in his insurgent campaign.

Ali’s full remarks can be found below:

My friends, I couldn’t be more grateful.

Tonight wasn’t what we were hoping for, but my heart is full, and the fight continues.

Because even though we didn’t win tonight, we showed New Jersey that a different kind of politics is possible.

One where people-power grinds the gears of the machine to a halt.

One where our democracy is led by the people who make it whole — not the institutions that let democracy fall with their inaction.

And one where we fight for each other, not with.

I want to take a moment to thank all our supporters — from Bernie Sanders, the national leader of our progressive movement, to the constellation of community leaders and organizations who made this campaign possible — the unions who stood with us, from CWA to 32BJ; Mayor Ras Baraka, Congressman Jamaal Bowman; the Gen-Z leaders at CRAN; Food and Water Watch, Clean Water Action; CAIR Action NJ, Emgage Action, Muslim Civic Coalition Activate, and of course, the Working Families Party.

My family — my parents, my brother and sister, my aunt and my cousins who are here.

And our volunteers and campaign staff:

• Campaign Manager - Samantha Liebman

• Campaign Consultant - Sunni Vargas

• Field Organizers: Javier Perez and Eileen Camacho

• Digital Team: Frank Santos, Mario Ramos, and Rabea Ali

• Comms Team: David Guirgis and Louis DiPaolo

• Campaign Coordinator: Wassim Abedrabbo

• Documentarian: Brittany Zwier

• Super Vols: Val, Jen, Melanie, Asha, Ash, Davey, Bernard

Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for the sacrifices you made for this campaign.

This race wasn’t ever about me.

It’s part of a larger, generational fight for the same dignity that was afforded to our parents. We know that our generation is set to be poorer than the last. We feel it.

We feel it every time we fill up the gas tank.

We feel it every time our rent spikes.

We feel it, because I said “rent” and not “mortgage” — homeownership as a concept is out of reach for us.

We are in an affordability crisis.

We are in a crisis manufactured by bad actors in Washington and the billionaires pulling their strings — a crisis of democracy.

A crisis of faith.

A crisis of humanity.

And let’s not forget the most shameful crisis of all: the crisis of complacency.

Because it is the job of local government to step up where federal government has failed us.

And the old, creaking gears of the machine cannot meet the moment.

So I dedicated my career to fighting it — for all of us.

Across the state, I’ve defended our civil rights.

Our right to clean air and water.

Our immigrant community’s right to Constitutional protections.

And we brought that fight right here to Passaic County.

We demanded real affordable housing and real protections for tenants.

We demanded real Vision Zero, more mass transit options, and more ways to connect our communities.

And we fought like hell to make sure our immigrant community is seen and protected by our county.

Those fights don’t end with this campaign — they can’t.

We put another crack in the foundation of the Passaic County machine, and eventually it will crumble.

So, my friends.

We take this moment in stride.

We celebrate the community we’ve built, here, together.

And we wake up tomorrow, in community, and we fight.

Let’s get to work. Thank you.

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