Human Rights Leader Stephanie Schmid Announces Campaign for Congress
Schmid is challenging 40-year politician Chris Smith, who narrowly survived in 2018.

Little Silver, NJ – New Jersey native Stephanie Schmid, a human rights advocate and retired Foreign Service Officer, announced her campaign for Congress for New Jersey’s fourth congressional district. Schmid, who lives in Little Silver, is running for Congress because she believes the fourth district deserves fresh leadership in Washington.

“Growing up in New Jersey, I learned the value of hard work and the importance of service. That’s what led me to join the Foreign Service, and it’s the same commitment I will bring to representing our community in Congress. We need leaders who understand the challenges our families face every day. Chris Smith has been in Congress for nearly 40 years and has put his personal agenda ahead of our needs.

I know Chris Smith’s record first hand. I served as an intern through a non-partisan program in his office in 1997 when I was in high school. Even though I was only 16, I knew then that we did not share the same values, particularly when it comes to women’s rights and the equality of all persons. Over the past two decades, I have come face to face with Smith’s destructive policies during my work at the Department of State and at the Center for Reproductive Rights, particularly his strong support for the global gag rule and his refusal to back critical legislation including the Reproductive Rights Are Human Rights Act, the Equality Act, the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, and the Global Health, Empowerment, and Rights Act. This fight is personal. I am running for Congress in order to ensure that the NJ fourth has a true human rights champion working to advance equality, dignity, and respect for all.

This campaign is about New Jersey families and that’s who I’ll be working for in Congress. That’s why I’m rejecting corporate PAC donations from the beginning of my campaign. No politician can serve the interest of their community if they’re beholden to special interest donors.”

Stephanie Schmid is a retired Foreign Service Officer who has served the United States abroad. Her work included a tour in Haiti where she received a meritorious service award from the State Department for supporting elected women leaders and promoting free and fair elections. Her work was instrumental in strengthening Haiti’s democratic institutions, including its Parliament, political parties, and electoral system.

After leaving the Foreign Service, Schmid joined the Center for Reproductive Rights, where she led their U.S. Foreign Policy Program fighting to protect and advance reproductive rights around the world. In this role , she led the grassroots advocacy campaign to introduce and pass the Reproductive Rights Are Human Rights Act in both the House and the Senate.

New Jersey’s fourth congressional district includes portions of Monmouth, Mercer, and Ocean Counties.