Donald Cresitello tells an interesting story.

He says he went to about 200 homes of Democrats seeking petition signatures and only four said they were voting for Analilia Mejia.

It is a nice story.

And armed with tales like that, Cresitello is challenging Mejia in the June 2 Democratic primary.

Cresitello already has had a colorful career in politics. He twice was mayor of Morristown and also ran for Morris County Commissioner (as a Republican) and for the United States Senate (as a Democrat).
More recently, Cresitello tried to run again for mayor, but was disqualified because a judge ruled he did not really live in town.

He tried to seek the CD-11 seat in the upcoming special election, but complained that the accelerated election schedule made it too difficult to gather petition signatures. His court challenge to that effect was denied and the special election went on without him.

Mejia won the February primary and faces Republican Joe Hathaway on April 16. The winner gets to Congress, but only through the end of the year.

The cycle begins anew in June to fill the seat beginning next January.

This time, Cresitello had no trouble getting signatures. He lists his residency as Morristown. However, that is no longer an issue given the fact congressional candidates can live anywhere in the state. The district covers parts of Essex, Morris and Passaic counties.

"I have a much larger base than people realize," he said on Tuesday. A builder by profession, Cresitello says he could garner much union support.

More broadly, he says Mejia is too far left for the district and that there is "a lot of unrest" among Democrats about her.

Still, he admits his candidacy is a long shot.

Cresitello also offered an analysis of the February primary, which was notable for the campaign AIPAC, (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) ran against Tom Malinowski, at the time the perceived frontrunner.

"AIPAC destroyed Malinowski and she snuck in."

Also filing to run in June was Justin Strickland of Chatham.

Strickland was one of 11 candidates who ran in February. He finished sixth with 1,391 votes.

If nothing else, Strickland is certainly determined. to run again for Congress, as he is giving up his seat on the Chatham Borough Council to do so.

Also filing to run was Joseph B. Lewis II of Montville.