Steven Welzer

Welzer was born in Newark, New Jersey, is by his own account a lifelong New Jersey resident, and graduated from Columbia High School.[2] He earned a bachelor's degree from Rutgers University in 1976 and a master's degree in economics from Rutgers in 1983.[2] He says he worked in tech support for the New Jersey Judiciary for almost 25 years, and WHYY describes him as a retired computer technician with the state judiciary.[2][4] He has also worked as a journalist, co-edited the print version of Green Horizon Magazine, and serves on the editorial board of its successor webzine, New Green Horizons.[2][4]

Welzer was a founding member of the Green Party of New Jersey in 1997; he says he served on the Steering Committee of the Green Party of the United States in 2012 and is a member of the state party's Elections Committee.[2] He ran as a Green Party candidate for the General Assembly in District 14 in 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2025, for Governor of New Jersey in 2013, and for U.S. House in New Jersey's 12th District in 2014 and 2016, losing each general election.[2] In the 2024 general election he ran in NJ-3, receiving 0.9% of the vote in the race won by Herb Conaway.[2][5] During the 2026 campaign, he ran on ranked-choice voting, reducing military spending and Green New Deal-style environmental policy.[2] He received 0.6% of the vote to Herb Conaway's 62.6%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[1]

Welzer lives in East Windsor, and he describes living there with his wife, Laura, and daughter, Nicole.[2][4] He says he is working to establish an ecovillage in Kimberton, Pennsylvania.[2]