Progressive Analilia Mejia close to upset win in New Jersey primary

A progressive candidate backed by champions of the left, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezis on the verge of an upset victory as votes continue to be counted in the Democratic congressional primary for a blue-leaning seat in New Jersey.

Analilia Mejia, a progressive organizer, holds a slight lead — nearly 900 votes out of more than 63,000 votes counted — ahead of former Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski in the battle for their party’s nomination in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District.

Mejia and Malinowski are the leaders among 11 Democratic candidates in the race to fill the vacant seat for the incumbent governor. Mickey Sherrill He resigned after winning the November 2025 gubernatorial election in the Garden State.

The results of the primary showdown are being closely watched by the political world as an early test in the debate between progressives versus more mainstream elements of the Democratic Party.

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Analilia Mejia, Democratic U.S. House candidate for New Jersey, speaks to supporters and members of the media at Paper Plane Coffee Co. In Montclair, New Jersey, United States, on Thursday, January 29, 2026 (Heather Khalifa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

A victory for Mejia, who served as national political director on Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, would be the left’s latest push against the establishment since he is now mayor of New York City. Zahran Mamdania democratic socialist, sent shockwaves across the country with his Democratic primary victory in June 2025.

“It represents a progressive, populist economic agenda,” said the progressive leader, Rep. Ro betrayed us The state of California confirmed on Friday Posted on social media. “It’s the future!”

Speaking to supporters on primary night, Mejia stressed, “We have to rebuild our party, we have to rebuild what is happening in our nation. We have to take back our democracy. We know that our economy is rigged for billionaires.”

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Here’s a closer look at Mejia’s stance on some key issues.

Immigration enforcement

During her primary campaign, Mejia targeted the president Donald TrumpThe United States has called for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency most visible in the aggressive tactics used in the administration’s massive deportation effort.

“I say abolish ICE now,” Mejia said during the campaign in January. “You can’t fix it. It’s beyond repair. Take it out.”

Democratic congressional candidate Analilia Mejia of New Jersey has called for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). (Heather Khalifa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Speaking with reporters Friday about her over-the-top performance in the primary, Mejia gave credit for her stance on immigration in the wake of the backlash against the Trump administration following the fatal shooting in Minnesota by federal agents of two U.S. citizens who were protesting immigration operations.

““I think the fact that I was bold and unafraid to speak my truth was very important. I think voters feel like they want to have a representative that actually represents them, and they can’t watch what’s happening in Minnesota, what’s happened in Chicago, what’s happened in California, what’s happened in Morristown across this district,” she told reporters.

supreme court

Mejia, like many on the left, objected to the rulings issued by the conservative-dominated court.

“The Supreme Court has been taken over by right-wing extremists who care more about enforcing Trump’s orders than the rule of law,” Mejia said on her campaign website.

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It supports “the articles of impeachment against Justices Thomas and Alito” for what it says is their “corruption and conflicts of interest.”

Mejia also supports “term limits for newly appointed appointees supreme court Judges, a binding ethics code with real application for all federal judges.

Democratic congressional candidate Analilia Mejia of New Jersey supports term limits for newly appointed justices to the Supreme Court. (Valerie Blish/Photo Alliance via Getty Images)

Mejia says she will support “expanding the courts if necessary to restore balance.”

Student loan debt

“We will cancel all student loan debt,” Mejia says on her campaign website.

She pledges that she will “fight to make college education free at community colleges and trade schools for all.”

Taxes and minimum wage

As part of it “An economic agenda for everyone,” Mejia says. “If you work 40 hours a week, you should make at least $40,000 a year, and you shouldn’t pay a dime in federal taxes on the first $40,000.”

She highlights that she helped lead the fight New Jersey “To win the $15 minimum wage.”

If it makes it to Congress, Mejia says, “With the cost of living rising every day, it’s time to raise the national minimum wage to $25 an hour.”

Israel

Malinowski, an assistant secretary of state under former President Barack Obama who later represented a neighboring congressional district in northern New Jersey from 2018 to 2022 before losing reelection, was considered the front-runner in the race heading into primary day.

But Malinowski was the target of a series of attack ads published by a group affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which opposed Malinowski because he said he supported conditions on aid to Israel.

January 15, 2026; Caldwell, New Jersey, USA; Tom Malinowski during a meeting hosted by the League of Women Voters at Caldwell University with candidates vying for the Democratic nomination to fill the congressional seat vacated by Governor Micky Sherrill. (Michael Karas/USA TODAY Network via Imagen Images)

The AIPAC-aligned United Democracy Project has spent more than $2.3 million targeting Malinowski, even though AIPAC had previously supported Malinowski in previous congressional elections.

But this strategy may backfire, because Mejia is tougher in dealing with Israel than Malinowski.

Megia was the only candidate in the race to raise her hand at a forum last month when asked whether she agreed with human rights groups that accuse Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in its war with Hamas in Gaza.

Mejia was strengthened by left-wing support. Sanders themed Her virtual rally on the eve of the primaries.

Along with Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, she has also been endorsed by a large list of other progressive leaders, including Khanna and Sen. Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts, and Representative Pramila Jayapal from Washington, former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

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The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), a leading group on the left, said in a statement that “Analilia Mejía’s important showing proves that voters, when given a choice, want Democrats with an inspiring vision that boldly challenges powerful interests on behalf of working families.”

PCCC co-founder Adam Green, a New Jersey native who knocked on Mejia’s doors and spoke at a rally with Mejia and Sanders on the eve of the primary, added that primary voters “have made it clear they want Democrats who will shake up the broken political and economic system — not just be anti-Trump.”

While Mejia was the obvious choice for the left wing of the party’s base, the rest of the field appeared to split the more moderate and center-left votes.

The winner of the Randolph primary will face Mayor Joe Hathaway, the only Republican to file to participate in the April 16 special election.

Hathaway will be considered the weakest in the race in the suburban district of northern New Jersey.

Sherrill won re-election in the district in 2024 by 15 points, the same margin by which she won the district in the gubernatorial showdown in November.

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But then-Vice President Kamala Harris won the district by just eight points in the 2024 presidential election, giving the GOP some hopes that the seat could be flipped.

The special election comes as Republicans cling to a razor-thin 218-214 majority in the House of Representatives. House of Representatives.