Surrounded by progressive allies, Mejia declares victory in NJ-11

Throughout her campaign for New Jersey’s 11th congressional district, Analilia Mejia said repeatedly that she’s “an organizer, not a politician.” Today, as she declared victory in the special Democratic primary and prepared for what is likely to be the beginning of her congressional career, she admitted that she may have to change that line.

“I’m going to be able to say I’m also, I guess, a politician,” she said. “More importantly, I can’t wait to be your elected representative.”

In last Thursday’s primary, Mejia emerged with a narrow lead in an incredibly crowded field, earning 29% of the vote to the 28% received by her closest competitor, former congressman Tom Malinowski. This morning, Malinowski officially conceded the race and offered Mejia his support to succeed Gov. Mikie Sherrill.

Mejia’s victory is a stunning turn of events in a race where she was seen as a heavy underdog until just a few weeks ago. The former union organizer and top Bernie Sanders staffer launched her campaign later, raised less money, and earned fewer county party endorsements than any of her top competitors, and yet still found a path to victory through her remarkable get-out-the-vote operation and her strong support in the district’s communities of color.

For the many national progressives who endorsed her, among them Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York), Mejia – assuming she wins the general election – will be a welcome addition to Congress and a vindication of their belief that progressive politics can win everywhere, even in suburban areas that are perceived as being more moderate.

And for the local unions, organizers, and activists who powered Mejia’s campaign, her victory is the culmination of years of work to build a progressive movement in the state and bypass its increasingly unsteady party establishment. Many of those allies were there today in Montclair, chanting “Analilia for Congress” and “Abolish ICE” and attesting to the huge amount of work Mejia had done: 300,000 phone calls made, 100,000 doors knocked, 1,200 volunteers recruited.

“It may be an upset to some, what has happened here today,” said Antoinette Miles, the state director of the Working Families Party and a close Mejia ally. “But for those of us who have known Analilia for a long time … this was not an upset. This is exactly who Analilia is.”

In order to join Congress, Mejia will still have to win the special general election against the GOP’s nominee, Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway, on April 16. The 11th district leans distinctly towards Democrats – even in the weak Democratic year of 2024, Sherrill still won re-election by 15 points – but Republicans believe the progressive bona fides that propelled Mejia to her primary victory could be a liability with the general electorate.

“District 11 voters now have a clear choice between a common sense workhorse who has always put results before rhetoric, or an antisemitic socialist more interested in representing the fringes of her party,” Hathaway said in a statement following Mejia’s victory.

At her victory press conference, Mejia did not shy away from some of her most contentious positions, including abolishing ICE and implementing Medicare for All. But her populist message, she said, could still appeal to voters across the political spectrum: “I think what voters in New Jersey’s 11th will find out about myself – and candidates who are free from the stranglehold of big money, of corporate interests, of all those lobbyists – is that we will center the people first,” she said.

Mejia will also have to win the regularly scheduled June primary election for the district, and there’s no guarantee that every 11th district Democrat will defer to her. In addition to spending the next two months campaigning in the general election, Mejia will also have to work to consolidate local and national Democrats behind her campaign ahead of the March 23 filing deadline for the 2026 midterms.

There’s already some evidence of that taking place. Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim, Democratic State Committee Chair LeRoy Jones, and Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill (D-Montclair), who finished in fourth place in last week’s primary, have all said they’ll support her in June, as have Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing), Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City), and LaMonica McIver (D-Newark).

Some other top Democrats, among them Sherrill and Malinowski, have said they’ll back Mejia in April, but haven’t confirmed that they’ll do so again in June. And third-place finisher Tahesha Way, the former lieutenant governor, has not said anything at all about what she plans to do.

Looming over the race is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which spent millions of dollars opposing Malinowski, seemingly with the intention of boosting Way instead. Their move evidently backfired, helping to elect the much more Israel-skeptic Mejia; AIPAC has said the result was an “anticipated possibility” and that it’s weighing whether to try and unseat Mejia in the future.

Mejia, for her part, has condemned AIPAC’s spending, but insisted that it wasn’t why she won, and said that it will hopefully convince Democratic voters to distrust dark money and special interest groups in the future.

“I contend that AIPAC did all of the voters in New Jersey’s 11th a very incredible favor, because they told us who they are,” she said today. “They told us what they’re willing to do, and that is to subvert democracy and silence even their friends if they don’t have a blank check and obedience.”

This story was updated at 5:21 p.m. to note that Kim will also support Mejia in the June primary election.