Mejia will be sworn in this evening

Rep.-elect Analilia Mejia (D-Glen Ridge), who sailed to victory in the special election for the 11th congressional district just four days ago, will be sworn into office at around 7 p.m. this evening.

The April 16 results in the 11th district have not yet been certified, but Mejia’s GOP opponent, Joe Hathaway, has conceded; on election night, news outlets quickly called the race for Mejia, who currently leads by a 25,532-vote, 59.5% to 40.0% margin with only few thousand late-arriving mail ballots and absentee ballots left to count.

It’s been common practice for House members elected by large margins in special elections to take office before results are finalized. In 2024, LaMonica McIver similarly took office five days after her special election victory after election officials confirmed she was the presumptive winner.

Mejia, who won the crowded February special primary for the 11th district in an upset against a number of better-funded foes, succeeds Gov. Mikie Sherrill, the 11th district’s congresswoman from 2019 through 2025. Sherrill resigned from the House on November 20 to prepare for her ascension to the governorship, and the 11th district’s residents have gone without a member of the House for exactly five months.

That was also five months in which House Democrats were down one vote to fight against Republicans’ incredibly narrow majority, though former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia)’s seat was also vacant for most of that time. Once Mejia takes office, Democrats will be at 214 seats to Republicans’ 218, with one Democratic seat and two Republican seats vacant.

Mejia is expected to take the Longworth Building office Sherrill once worked from for the remainder of the session. After that, she will participate in a lottery based on seniority and likely receive a smaller space than those more senior than her.

It’s not immediately clear what the new congresswoman’s committee assignments will be, since Sherrill’s main assignment was to the House Armed Services Committee, and that spot has already been filled by another New Jersey House member, Rep. Herb Conaway (D-Delran). 

Thursday’s election wasn’t the last time either Mejia or Hathaway will face voters this year, and the congresswoman-elect begins her career in Washington just as vote-by-mail ballots begin to be cast in the June Democratic primary for her first full term.

She faces three primary challengers: former Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello, who failed to get on the ballot in the February special primary after his nominating petitions came up short of signatures; Chatham Borough Councilman Justin Strickland, who received 2% of the vote in the special primary; and newcomer Joseph Lewis. Hathaway faces no opposition in the Republican primary.