Today, Democrat Joe Cohn formally announced his candidacy for United States Congress in New Jersey’s 3rd congressional district. An accomplished civil rights attorney, Joe Cohn said he has spent decades defending civil liberties and protecting the freedoms of all Americans.

“Washington is broken,” said Cohn. “Extremist politicians are seeking to polarize our nation, stoking the flames of phony culture wars, all while ignoring the critical work they were elected to do.”

Cohn said he brings a wealth of experience working to advance freedom, equality, liberty, and justice to the race.

As a civil rights attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), Joe Cohn said he has been on the front lines, standing up for the freedoms on which our democracy relies.

For the last dozen years, through his work at FIRE, he said he has defended the free speech rights of people on every part of the political spectrum, securing big victories against those that would forbid students and professors from discussing racial equality in college classrooms, outlaw conversations in states that have banned abortion about where women could obtain abortions lawfully, or ban colleges from hosting pro-choice speakers.

Cohn said he is entering the race because he believes that our democracy is facing existential threats: the polarization that has us at each other’s throats; an active insurrectionist movement led by powerful popular politicians; the rolling back of voting rights; and attacks on the free press.

“In Congress, my top priorities will be fighting the biggest threats to our democracy,” said Cohn. “We cannot continue to wage a daily culture war that treats our political adversaries like they are our enemies. We must, instead, work to find the common ground that brings us together.

“We’re at a perilous moment in our nation’s history,” he added. “For the survival of our democracy, we can—and must—work across our differences to unite around protecting voting rights, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and civil liberties for all.”

Over the coming weeks the Joe Cohn for Congress campaign will communicate its message of pragmatic solutions to everyday problems across the 3rd district on the ground, through social media, and on the airwaves.

“The stakes in this election are high. There’s so much at risk – from protecting the right to choose and the right to vote, to protecting democracy itself. Our campaign is going to meet the urgency of the moment.”