CBS News projects Democrat Analilia Mejia will win the special election in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, filling the seat vacated by Gov. Mikie Sherrill. Mejia defeated Republican Joe Hathaway and independent Alan Bond and will serve the remainder of Sherrill’s term, which ends in January. The district includes parts of Essex, Morris and Passaic counties.
Once a Republican stronghold, the district has trended Democratic since President Donald Trump’s first term; voter registration shows Democrats outnumber Republicans there by more than 60,000.
Shortly after the projection, Mejia addressed supporters in Montclair, where crowds chanted that she was an “unbought, unbossed, sassy new member of Congress.” “The odds were stacked against us, but we did the impossible and we won,” she said.
Mejia, the daughter of a Dominican factory worker and a Colombian seamstress, criticized Hathaway during her victory remarks, saying he spent much of his campaign calling her “little boy” and labeling her ideas radical. “That was a mind trick,” she said, arguing it is not radical to push for stronger health protections in the U.S.
Hathaway issued a statement congratulating Mejia but called the election “unique and, frankly, unusual,” blaming the structure and timing set by a partisan Democratic governor for producing a low-turnout environment that he said benefited one party.
Mejia will need to run again in November to seek a full two-year term.
A progressive, Mejia is the former head of the Working Families Alliance and emerged from a crowded Democratic primary in February with a slim lead. She served as political director for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign and is endorsed by Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Her platform centers on populist economic policies and immigration changes, including calls to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Mejia has prioritized taxing billionaires, raising wages, and establishing universal child care and health care. She has also advocated making SALT deductions permanent for homeowners while addressing housing affordability for renters, warning that private equity firms are snapping up rental markets.
Republican ads labeled her a socialist; Mejia dismissed those attacks, saying her opponent was “super desperate” and accused him of playing fast and loose with the truth. She noted her 13 years as a Democratic county committeewoman in the district and said her record reflects pushing for practical policy rather than the spurious attacks leveled against her.