Analilia Mejia began her congressional campaign with the support of her former boss, Senator Bernie Sanders, and she’s entering the race’s final weeks with an endorsement from the country’s other most famous left-wing politician: New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Ocasio-Cortez, a democratic socialist who has been a rising star in the Democratic Party since her first upset victory in 2018, is the latest in a series of prominent progressives to line up behind Mejia’s special election campaign for the 11th congressional district.
“Analilia Mejia is a fighter for working people who has been on the frontlines of some of our most critical battles – from immigrant rights and universal healthcare to higher wages and real accountability for the powerful,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement. “I know she will bring that fight to Congress on day one and I am proud to support her run to represent NJ-11 in Congress.”
Mejia was the national political director on Sanders’s 2020 campaign, and before that had a long history in New Jersey progressive and labor circles. The many relationships she made over the years have paid off during the extremely truncated campaign to replace Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill; also on Team Mejia are the Working Families Party, the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, and, as of earlier this week, former State Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck).
An endorsement from someone as nationally prominent as AOC, though, could help Mejia in another area: fundraising. Many of Mejia’s ten Democratic opponents have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for their campaigns (one has hit more than a million), while Mejia has not publicly announced any of her own fundraising totals.
All of the candidates are racing to earn 11th district voters’ support ahead of the fast-approaching February 5 primary date, and Mejia is bringing her biggest supporter in the district next week: Sanders will be coming to Wayne for a “Fighting Oligarchy” rally on January 19.