(The Center Square) — Far-left Democrat Analilia Mejia defeated Republican Joe Hathaway on Thursday in New Jersey’s special congressional election, allowing Democrats to hold onto the House seat ahead of the midterms.
Meijia, 48, will fill the 11th Congressional District formerly held by Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill until January to serve out the remainder of her term, but will have to run for a full two-year term in the Nov. 3 elections.
“In November, when I jumped into this race, the odds were stacked against us,” Mejia told supporters Thursday night after the race was called. “But you know — we did the impossible, and we won.”
Hathaway congratulated Mejia on her victory and thanked his supporters “from across the political spectrum” for backing his run for Congress, despite the outcome of the race. He is expected to run again for the seat.
“From the very beginning, our campaign focused on bringing people together around a simple idea: that our district deserves common sense, practical leadership that puts families first, not a political party, not a president,
and certainly not a squad,” he said in a statement.
Hathaway panned the “unusual” election process to fill the House seat, noting that the structure and timing was “set by a partisan Democratic governor” and “produced exactly the kind of low-turnout environment that benefits one party.”
“We saw heavy vote-by-mail participation, limited Election Day turnout, and far too many Republican and unaffiliated voices left out of the process,” he said. “The result is that Analilia Mejia has now won two elections decided by a small share of the overall electorate, 3.2% of the total electorate in the primary, and just north of 10% of the total electorate.”
“I still believe the broader electorate in NJ-11 is looking for balanced, pragmatic leadership, not the kind of far-left policies embraced by Ms. Mejia,” he added. “That conversation is not over.”
Mejia, a former head of the Working Families Alliance, emerged from a crowded Democratic primary in February to win the nomination and ran on a far-left platform, backed by progressive darlings like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat.
On the campaign trail, she called for the abolishment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, criticized the federal government’s support for the Israeli government and railed against many of President Trump’s policies.
The 11th district, which includes sections of Essex, Morris and Passaic counties in northern New Jersey’s affluent suburbs, was long considered a GOP stronghold but has increasingly shifted left during Trump’s first term.
The state’s Democratic Party claimed the race was a referendum on President Trump’s agenda ahead of the midterm elections, when control of Congress will be up for grabs.
“Analilia will be a welcome addition to the fight against the oppressive and dangerous policies put forward by the Trump White House and MAGA Republicans and we look forward to seeing all she can accomplish as a valued member of our New Jersey congressional delegation,” New Jersey Democratic State Committee Chairman Leroy J. Jones, Jr. said in a statement.
