Analilia Mejia has won the Democratic special primary in New Jersey’s 11th District, positioning her to face Republican Joe Hathaway in the April 16 special general election for a U.S. House seat that became available when Mikie Sherrill left for the governor’s office.
The Associated Press declared Mejia the winner on Thursday, Feb. 12, a week after the closely contested special primary ended Feb. 5, and after former Rep. Tom Malinowski had already conceded the race. Mejia, 48, overcame Malinowski along with about a dozen other candidates in the primary for the district that includes parts of Essex, Morris and Passaic counties and some of New York City’s wealthier suburbs.
The AP reported that the choice of candidate reflects how the 11th District’s politics have shifted over time. The seat was reliably Republican until President Donald Trump’s first term, when Sherrill won in 2018 as part of a broader Democratic wave.
In the special primary contest, the AP said Mejia did not emerge as a more moderate alternative; instead, she campaigned on populist economic policies and on the abolition of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The report said Republicans plan to portray Mejia as too far left for the district.
Mejia’s background, as described by the AP, includes work as a director of the Working Families Alliance in New Jersey and regular appearances in the state capitol advocating for progressive causes. The report also said she served as Sanders’ political director during his 2020 presidential run and was the deputy director of the Labor Department’s Women’s Bureau under President Joe Biden.
The AP reported that Mejia received endorsements from several prominent Democratic figures, including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, along with Sen. Bernie Sanders. It also said that her campaign competed in part against an effort by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s affiliated super PAC that tried to thwart Malinowski after he questioned unconditional aid to the Israeli government.
According to the AP, the AAIPAC-affiliated super PAC’s efforts appeared to backfire, and Mejia edged out Malinowski. The AP reported that Mejia said she agreed Israel committed genocide in Gaza.
The winner of the April 16 special general election will serve out the remainder of Sherrill’s term, which ends in January. The AP also reported that there will be a regular primary on June 2 and a general election on Nov. 3 for the new term.