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Progressive Win in New Jersey Hinged on Anti-ICE Organizing by Whitney Curry Wimbish
Progressive Democrat and organizer Analilia Mejia officially won a special Democratic primary for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District Tuesday, in a narrow race that took days to determine. Less than 900 votes separate Mejia and her opponent, former Rep. Tom Malinowski, though that number has grown with virtually every update. By the time Malinowski conceded on Tuesday, the margin between the two was just 1.4 points, with Mejia taking 29.1 percent of the votes and Malinowski taking 27.7 percent.
Mejia is expected to defeat Republican nominee and former mayor of Randolph Township Joe Hathaway in the special general election for the blue district on April 16. The seat was vacated when Mikie Sherrill won the New Jersey gubernatorial election last November.
Speaking with the Prospect on the phone Sunday afternoon, when she was up by just 868 votes with 93 percent of the precincts reporting, Mejia discussed how she connected with voters in her district and why her belief that abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a winning stance.
“You can’t turn away from this madness and you can’t unsee this injustice and they want leaders who say you’re not crazy, what you’re seeing is real,” Mejia said. “People get it, voters are not dumb.”
Mejia was one of the last candidates to enter the race, with some of the lowest name recognition compared to a former congressman (Malinowski), a commissioner in Essex County (Brendan Gill), and the state’s former lieutenant governor (Tahesha Way). But she attributed her victory to her commitment to offering constituents help and knowledge to fight the fascism they are seeing.
Mejia is expected to defeat Republican nominee and former mayor of Randolph Township Joe Hathaway in the special general election for the blue district on April 16. The seat was vacated when Mikie Sherrill won the New Jersey gubernatorial election last November.
Speaking with the Prospect on the phone Sunday afternoon, when she was up by just 868 votes with 93 percent of the precincts reporting, Mejia discussed how she connected with voters in her district and why her belief that abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a winning stance.
“You can’t turn away from this madness and you can’t unsee this injustice and they want leaders who say you’re not crazy, what you’re seeing is real,” Mejia said. “People get it, voters are not dumb.”
Mejia was one of the last candidates to enter the race, with some of the lowest name recognition compared to a former congressman (Malinowski), a commissioner in Essex County (Brendan Gill), and the state’s former lieutenant governor (Tahesha Way). But she attributed her victory to her commitment to offering constituents help and knowledge to fight the fascism they are seeing.
https://prospect.org/2026/02/11/progressive-win-new-jersey-anti-ice-organizing-mejia/
2 replies
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Congratulations Analilia Mejia and New Jersey Democrats!
The 11th is an important Congressional District in New Jersey ....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey%27s_11th_congressional_district
