The Dictatorship
Mejia, Hathaway race to fill House seat in NJ special election
A progressive activist and a Republican mayor will be on the ballot on Thursday when voters head to the polls for a special election to fill the U.S. House seat vacated by New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, D.
Democrats are strongly favored to keep the seat in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, but the race has exposed ideological divisions within the party and has become a test for Republican efforts to compete in a district that has trended blue in recent years.
Democrat Analilia Mejia, a progressive organizer and former national political director for Sen. Bernie Sanders’, I-Vt., presidential campaign will face Republican Randolph Township Mayor Joe Hathaway, who ran unopposed in his party’s primary. Alan Bond is running as an independent candidate.
A special election was called when Sherrill resigned in November after winning the governorship. Party primaries were held in February.
The Democratic primary drew an unusually large and diverse field, with more than a dozencandidates competing across ideological lines. Among the most prominent contenders was former U.S. Rep. Tom Malinowski. The contest quickly became a proxy battle between the Democratic Party’s progressive wing and more centrist establishment figures, drawing millions of dollarsin outside spending. A heavy spending push by AIPAC to attack moderate-leaning Malinowski appeared to backfire, with some Democratic strategists arguing the group’s intervention galvanized progressive voters and ultimately helped propel Mejia.
Mejia prevailedby a narrow margin, defeating Malinowski after a late surge in Election Day voting overcame his early lead from mail-in ballots. Her victory was seen by many as a sign of growing progressive energy within Democratic primaries, particularly in suburban districts that have shifted left in recent election cycles.
Thursday’s contest is being closely watched as an early indicator of Democratic voter sentiment heading into the 2026 midterm elections. The winner will serve the remainder of the current congressional term and is expected to run again in November for a full term.
“Mejia is much more progressive than Sherrill, so it’s like, okay, can she win in those kinds of suburban districts?” said Fanny Lauby, a political science professor who specializes in American politics at Montclair State University, which sits in the 11th district.
Despite the contentious primary, Democrats appear as a clear favorite in the 11th District, which includes parts of Essex, Morris and Passaic counties. The district has moved away from its Republican roots over the past decade, with Democratic presidential and congressional candidates winning comfortably in recent cycles.
Sherrill captured about 56% of the votein her 2024 re-election. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, wonthe district over Donald Trump with 53% of the vote in 2024.
“We are fed up with the chaos coming out of Washington — from rising prices to attacks on our democracy,” Mejia said in a statement to MS NOW. “This is our chance to reject MAGA extremism, fight for an economy that works for everyone, and elect someone who is truly unbought and unbossed.”
Mejia, the daughter of Colombian and Dominican immigrants, has embraced a policy platform that includes support for abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcementand replacing it with a system that prioritizes humanitarian immigration enforcement and due process. She has advocated for policies including expanding workers’ rights, raising the federal minimum wage and advancing universal health care.
“I think these are now kind of part of the national progressive Democratic platform. I think that’s definitely a message that resonates with a lot more Democratic voters than it would have maybe five or 10 years ago,” Lauby said.
Mejia has also been a strong critic of the war in Gaza and has accused Israel of committing genocide in its effort to take out Hamas. Notably, she gained a boostfrom a prominent progressive pro-Israel advocacy group after J Street PAC, which endorsed her on Friday. She also secured the backing from several prominent Democrats, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Sen. Cory Booker and D-NJ, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
A GBAO poll conducted in Marchshowed Mejia with a sizable lead over Hathaway, 53% to 36% respectively. Mejia also significantly outraisedHathaway in the lead-up to the special election, building roughly a 2-to-1 fundraising advantage that has helped fuel her campaign’s visibility across the district.
Still, some Republicans view Hathaway’s candidacy as an opportunity to test messaging that could resonate in suburban districts nationwide. The New Jersey Republican has sought to carve out an independent lane in the race by occasionally breaking with President Donald Trump, a notable stance in a party still largely aligned with the president.
Hathaway’s campaign has been backed by a coalition of Morris County GOP leaders, including local mayors and state senators. Hathaway has emphasized a pragmatic approach, at times signaling disagreement with Trump’s rhetoric and positioning himself as a candidate willing to challenge party orthodoxy. Hathaway criticized Trump’s decision last year to cancel billions in federal funding for the Gateway Program, which would build a new rail tunnel linking New Jersey and New York. He has also repeatedly vowed he won’t be “rubber stamp” for Trump.
His strategy reflects an effort to appeal to moderate and independent voters, where Republican candidates have struggled in recent years amid shifting suburban dynamics.
“For me, it’s about my district, not the party, not the president,” Hathaway told MS NOW on Monday. “If I can call balls and strikes as a Republican, then I think I can earn the vote of a whole lot of people in NJ-11.”
Lauby emphasized that it’s a risky tactic for Republican candidates to oppose party leadership, specifically Trump.
“For the Republicans, it’s like a big test case of like, okay, does waffling work? Like, does avoiding the T(rump)-word work?,” Lauby said. “But if you go counter to the president, then you expose yourself to attacks from both parties.”
Ebony Davis is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked at BLN as a campaign reporter covering elections and politics.