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Mejia wins NJ special election to replace Gov. Sherrill in Congress
By
Mike Hayes
Published Apr 16, 2026
Modified Apr 16, 2026
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Analilia Mejia for New Jersey
By
Mike Hayes
Published Apr 16, 2026
Modified Apr 16, 2026
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Progressive activist and organizer Analilia Mejia has defeated Republican Joe Hathaway in a special election in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, capping off a meteoric rise to Garden State political prominence for the daughter of Colombian and Dominican immigrants.
The Associated Press called the race shortly after polls closed at 8 p.m. Thursday night, with Mejia garnering roughly 70% of counted ballots. Mejia jumped out to a commanding lead over Hathaway as votes first started to be counted across the North Jersey congressional district spanning three counties. Early results showed her outperforming her Republican rival in her home base of Essex County and in more rural Morris County where Hathaway enjoyed stronger support.
"In November when I jumped into this race the odds were stacked against us but you know we did the impossible and we won," Mejia told a room full of supporters after her election win, nodding to her immigrant and working class roots. "I deeply believe that we are at a turning point in this nation my people do you feel it?"
She was also critical of the attacks Hathaway lobbed against her on the campaign trail, casting her as too liberal for the majority of voters in the district.
“He spent the majority of his campaign calling me names like a little boy and saying my ideas were too radical," she said Thursday night. "It is not radical to say that in the wealthiest nation in the world that we should do more to protect the health of its people. There should be no American forced to ration their insulin, their heart medication or to be denied care that their doctor has said they need and an insurance company wants to deny.”
Hathaway spokesperson Kean Maclelland told Gothamist that the Republican nominee called Mejia to concede and left a voicemail when she did not answer.
In a written statement, Hathaway criticized the electoral process.
“This was a unique and, frankly, unusual election. The structure and timing, set by a partisan Democratic governor, 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.
Once Mejia is sworn in, the Glen Ridge mother of two will serve out the rest of Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s term this year. Sherrill vacated the seat after being elected governor last November.
The win is the latest in a string of notable victories across the country for the Democratic party this year. In the weeks leading up to Thursday’s special election, Democrats notched surprising state senate victories in deep-red Mississippi, Texas and Florida.
The results show Mejia went into election day with an insurmountable advantage. According to the New Jersey Division of Elections, 21,000 more Democrats cast early ballots by mail or in-person than Republicans. On Thursday, as of 6 pm, Democrats had increased that advantage by roughly 1,500 more votes.
Her success also suggests that Democrats from the progressive wing of the party currently have a strong foothold with blue voters. New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District has been historically moderate. But Mejia, who defeated an opponent who portrayed himself as a centrist, won on a platform that included abolishing ICE, supporting Medicare for All and impeaching conservative U.S. Supreme Court judges accused of corruption.
Mejia’s victory in the primary earlier this year surprised many political observers.
The Bernie Sanders-backed candidate positioned herself far to the left in a crowded primary field of 11 Democrats, including some of the state’s most well known, establishment political figures. Voters responded to Mejia’s vow to fight President Donald Trump on tax breaks for billionaires to healthcare, cuts to education funding and the White House’s immigration enforcement tactics. After several days post-primary vote counting, Mejia eventually bested former representative Tom Malinowski.
Mejia pitched herself as a political outsider who is “unbossed” by the state’s well-established Democratic political machine. She is, however, far from a rookie of Garden State politics. She previously served as the head of the New Jersey Working Families Party, where she focused on getting legislation passed like the state’s $15 mandatory minimum wage law.
In the short two-month general election race, Hathaway tried to convince voters that Mejia was pushing a “radical socialist economic agenda” and accused her of antisemitism over her position that Israel’s war in Gaza is a genocide.
Mejia cast Hathaway as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” and implored voters not to trust his criticism of Trump’s immigration enforcement policies and withholding funding for the Gateway Tunnel.
Mejia’s break from the campaign trail could be short lived. She’s likely to face a primary challenge in June from two Democrats already registered to run against her.
"Don't forget in eight weeks we have to do it again," she told her supporters celebrating her win.
Should she prevail in that race, she’ll be up for reelection again in November.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
Tagged
Politics
election
new jersey
Mike Hayes
Mike Hayes covers equity and access to opportunity in New Jersey. He joined WNYC and Gothamist in 2023. Before that, he worked as a freelance journalist writing about policing and criminal justice. He has written for ProPublica, CNN, HuffPost, BuzzFeed News and The Appeal. He is also the author of the book, “The Secret Files: Bill De Blasio, The NYPD, and the Broken Promises of Police Reform.” In 2019, he was a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists.
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