Marie Corfield is a lifelong New Jersey resident, school teacher, progressive public education advocate and single mother of two. In 2010, her passionate defense of public school funding at a town hall meeting provoked an angry response from republican Governor Chris Christie. The exchange was caught on camera, and a YouTube video went viral, skyrocketing Marie into the public eye and triggering an influx of harshly negative emails and Facebook postings aimed at her.
Instead of shying away from the spotlight after those public attacks, Corfield decided to continue fighting for public education in the political arena, where she’s garnered plenty more attention. She ran for state Assembly in 2011, but was edged out by two republican candidates. Just two days later, one of the winners passed away and was replaced by Donna Simon, an interim republican appointee, who Corfield is facing in a special election tomorrow.
The spotlight is firmly focused on Marie as she competes in a legislative race that is widely regarded as the most competitive in the state. Earlier this month, Corfield’s race was included on the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee’s (DLCC) list of the most competitive and critical races for state legislature in the country.
Her campaign made the list by earning more grassroots nominations from the general public than any other candidate, beating out many high profile races around the country to win the top spot. "Being named to the Essential Races List validates what we already know is true on the ground - that our campaign's momentum and support continues to grow," said Corfield.
The Corfield campaign credits NationBuilder with helping them more effectively communicate with voters and gather that support. "We use NationBuilder's web platform as the virtual hub of our online, grassroots communications," said Jason Springer, spokesman for the Corfield campaign. "Whether it's displaying photos and video, or blog posts and issues, the NationBuilder platform has enabled us to integrate our social media accounts and electronic communications, in order to better reach supporters and potential voters."
