The Democratic primary race for the special election in New Jersey’s 11th District has been called. Progressive organizer Analilia Mejia has won, beating almost a dozen other candidates, including former US representative Tom Malinowski. This special election is being held to fill the US House seat previously held by Mikie Sherrill. Sherrill resigned after winning New Jersey’s gubernatorial election.
Mejia was announced the winner by the Associated Press on Thursday, February 12, a week after polls had closed. The final tally put Mejia ahead of Malinowski by over 1,000 votes, with about 29% of the total votes.
On her victory, Mejia said, “This was a race about the future of our country and the future of our party, and the voters sent a clear message. They want leaders who are unbought, unbossed, and ready to take our country back from the billionaires and MAGA extremists”.
Mejia is a former director of the Working Families Alliance in New Jersey and political director for Bernie Sanders. During Biden’s presidency, she was also the deputy director of the Labor Department’s Women’s Bureau.
Her victory as a progressive candidate is being used to highlight the steady shift towards more democratic politicians in New Jersey. The district, which includes parts of Essex, Morris, and Passaic counties, consistently voted Republican under President Trump’s first term. Sherrill was elected as part of the 2018 Democratic wave during the midterms.
Tom Malinowski, the former US Representative for New Jersey’s 7th district, was expected to win the election. However, he became the target of a smear campaign funded by AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee). AIPAC and related groups reportedly spent over $2.5 million on “television and digital ads, mailers, and phone banking” after expressing a plan to oppose unrestricted aid packages to Israel.
Malinowski congratulated Mejia in his concession statement, giving her “unequivocal praise and credit for running a positive campaign”. He also criticized AIPAC’s interference in the election, especially the “dishonest ads” describing him as a member of the MAGA movement.
Mejia’s victory has Republicans planning to “portray her as too far left for the district” in the upcoming special general election. Mejia will be facing the unopposed Republican candidate, Joe Hathaway, the mayor of Randolph Township. The election will take place on April 16, 2026. The winner will fill the rest of Sherrill’s term, ending January 3, 2027.
Mejia has expressed plans to run again in the June primary and November general election to win the next two-year term beginning in January 2027.
