Madelyn Hoffman, a leader with the Green Party of New Jersey who helped establish the organization and once appeared as Ralph Nader’s vice presidential running mate on the state ballot, has died at 69.
The Green Party of New Jersey announced Hoffman’s passing last week in a September 25 statement. The party said her death was sudden, with InsiderNJ further reporting that Hoffman died from complications following surgery in Colombia, where she had been living and working.
“Madelyn inspired generations of activists through her compassion, determination, and unwavering commitment to Green values,” the party stated. “She understood that peace, economic justice, environmental protection, and grassroots democracy are inseparable. Her passing is a tremendous loss to the Green Party US, the Green Party of New Jersey and movements for peace and justice worldwide.”
According to the party, Hoffman’s early activism included directing the GrassRoots Environmental Organization in New Jersey from 1983 to 1998, working with more than 200 citizen groups across the state on issues involving toxic chemical pollution. She later spent nearly two decades as director of New Jersey Peace Action, where she organized against war and in support of nuclear disarmament.
That environmental work led to her involvement in Green politics, with the party saying Hoffman participated in a series of environmental conferences during that same period alongside activists who would later form the core of the Green Party of New Jersey.
When Nader mounted his 1996 presidential bid, Hoffman appeared on the ballot as his vice presidential running mate in New Jersey, with the state party calling her its “local favorite daughter.” Winona LaDuke appeared alongside Nader in most other states. Hoffman followed that campaign with a run for New Jersey governor in 1997, receiving 10,703 votes. The Green Party of New Jersey said it formally organized around that campaign.
Hoffman ran for Congress the following year against Republican U.S. Rep. Michael Pappas before spending two decades away from running for office. She returned as the Green Party’s nominee for U.S. Senate in 2018 against Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, receiving 25,150 votes. She ran for Senate again in 2020 against Sen. Cory Booker before making a second bid for governor in 2021, running alongside Heather Warburton and garnering 8,450 votes.
Hoffman remained active in Green politics afterward, serving as co-chair of the Green Party Peace Action Committee at the national level. In 2025, she also managed Lily Benavides’ write-in campaign for New Jersey governor after the Green ticket was removed from the ballot following a petition challenge. Benavides, now co-chair of both the Green Party of New Jersey and the national party’s Latinx Caucus, remembered Hoffman as a mentor whose activism extended well beyond individual campaigns.
“I admired Madelyn’s passion for doing what was right at all cost, her commitment to build peace and her vast knowledge,” Benavides said. “She became my mentor and I’m grateful that she always pushed me to do more because she believed in me.”
“The last memory that I have of us together was a year ago sitting in my living room having a conversation where she said to me ‘life is too short to not be happy. You need to do what makes you happy in life before it is too late. Think about that and take the decisions you need to take.’ She found her happiness when she moved to Colombia and just the fact that she loved my country so much made me feel more close to her,” Benavides continued.
At the time of her death, the party said Hoffman was teaching courses in U.S. government, ethics, environmental studies, and public speaking. She was also working with ESL students on reading and writing.
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