Do you know the way to election day? This was the question Congressman Tom Malinowski put to Grammy Award Winning singer Dionne Warwick and 270 other supporters gathered at Sunday night’s Somerset County Democratic Committee Gala. While San Jose may be many miles away from Somerset County, the November 8th mid-term election is just around the corner.

Chairwoman Peg Schaffer  reminded the crowd that ‘our basic freedoms and fundamental rights are on the ballot” and “Somerset is the bellwether to maintain control of the House of Representatives”. She urged the attendees to re-elect Congressman Malinowski and Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman and to send Sheriff Darrin Russo, Commissioner Marano, and Clerk Steve Peter back “to finish the great work they have started.” She warned “the MAGA Republicans are determined to subvert our democracy and have even sent Trump’s former campaign manager to run a dark money PAC in our county”

With this backdrop,  Schaffer introduced the evening’s keynote, Senator Cory Booker. After literally lifting her up and carrying the County Chair back to her seat, the Senator began inspiring the spellbound audience with his characteristically optimistic vision of the road ahead, peppering his remarks with the pop icon’s signature phrases.

‘The current fight for reproductive rights may have activists from Dionne Warwick’s generation saying Deja Vu.”,  said Senator Booker, who assured the room that “as long as Democrats can stand together in ‘good times and in bad,’ we can all ‘keep smiling and keep shining’ on November 8th”.

Senator Booker was followed by Representatives Tom Malinowski (above, right, with Booker) and Bonnie Watson-Coleman, who echoed the sentiments of the Senator.

They were followed by NJ Democratic Chairman Leroy Jones and Somerset County Democratic candidates Sheriff Darrin Russo, Clerk Steve Peter, and Commissioner Melonie Marano.

The evening was capped off by a rendition of That’s What Friends Are For by Somerset’s own Commissioner Director Shanel Robinson.

Among those in attendance were many of Somerset County’s delegation to Trenton including Senators Bob Smith and Andrew Zwicker, Assembly Members Joe Danielsen, Roy Freiman, Sadaf Jaffer, and Linda Carter. Other notable attendees included former Senate President Steve Sweeney and DNC members Bernadette McPherson and Marcia Marley. The room reflected the trust Somerset County voters have put in Democrats in recent years with all five Democratic county commissioners in attendance in addition to the County Clerk, Sheriff, Surrogate, and many other local elected officials.