Tom Malinowski

Tom Malinowski is a Democrat who represents New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House. He advanced from the Democratic primary on July 7, 2020 to the ballot in the general election on November 3, 2020..

Born in Poland, Tom came to America at the age of 6 with his mother, during the Cold War. He grew up in Princeton New Jersey and attended Princeton High School, where he wrote for the school newspaper. He also interned with Senator Bill Bradley. Tom received a B.A. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Philosophy from Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

Malinowski served as Assistant Secretary of State for human rights in the Obama administration. Prior to that, he worked on President Clinton’s National Security Council, focusing on ending the wars raging in the Balkans. He led State Department efforts to defend the LGBT community around the world. From 2001 to 2013, he was Washington director for Human Rights Watch, where he advocated for the end of torture and black sites used by theU.S. government during the War on Terror.

Tom married a Burmese refugee whom he met while at Oxford. They have a daughter, Emily.