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Democrats hang on to New Jersey House seat left open by Sherrill

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by Julia Mueller - 04/16/26 8:17 PM ET

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by Julia Mueller - 04/16/26 8:17 PM ET

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Democrat Analilia Mejia has won a House seat in New Jersey, according to Decision Desk HQ, succeeding now-Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) and notching a win for progressives.

Mejia, a top aide to Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) 2020 presidential campaign, defeated Republican Joe Hathaway in the Thursday special election for the Garden State’s 11th Congressional District, which voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris by 9 percentage points in 2024.

She defeated former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) in a crowded February primary, despite his higher name ID and congressional experience — an upset outcome that signaled strength among the party’s left flank.

Democrats credited her primary win in part to the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) attacking a more moderate Malinowski, which left Mejia relatively unscathed. After her primary win, she decried AIPAC’s influence.

The director of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance, Mejia scored endorsements from Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). Sherrill, who won reelection in the district by 15 points back in 2024, also endorsed Mejia as her successor, pitching her as a “great partner in Congress.”

Sherrill resigned from the House last fall after she was elected to the governorship, triggering a special election for her seat.

Mejia will now head to Congress and serve the remaining eight months of Sherrill’s term.

Hathaway and Mejia are both set to battle in primaries for the seat next month, hoping to secure a full term in this fall’s general election.

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