A swell of support from progressives for Analilia Mejia, who is seeking to succeed Democratic Gov.-elect. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) in the House of Representatives, could backfire on both the candidate and the Democratic Party as they seek to hold onto a centrist member’s seat in Congress.
Mejia, who served as national political director for Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-VT) 2020 presidential bid, secured endorsements from Sanders, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Greg Casar (D-TX), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), and Maxwell Frost (D-FL), among others. The Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC has also thrown its support behind the candidate.
Including Mejia, 11 Democrats are running in the primary for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, a seat that Sherrill resigned in November after winning the 2025 gubernatorial election.
The special primary is set for Feb. 5, followed by a special general election on April 16. The Democratic nominee will face Republican Joe Hathaway, who is the mayor of Randolph, and the winner will finish out Sherrill’s term until Jan. 3, 2027.
The heightened interest in the crowded Democratic field is a nod to the rare opportunity that comes with vacant House seats, typically brought by retirements, death, or accession into a higher or statewide office.
Mejia is currently the co-director of the Center for Popular Democracy. In addition to working for the Sanders’ campaign, she previously served as the deputy director of the Women’s Bureau in the U.S. Labor Department under former President Joe Biden, and as the former executive director of New Jersey’s Working Families Alliance.
She said in a statement she was “humbled” by Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement, in which the congresswoman called Mejia a “fighter for working people who has been on the frontlines of some of our most critical battles.”
“It’s time to take power back from the political establishment and put it in the hands of the people and I’m ready to do that alongside Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to deliver real results,” Mejia said.
Why a backing from progressives could harm Mejia’s chances
Many household names among Democrats besides Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders have waded into the race. Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) threw his support behind former Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski, who was ousted from his 7th District seat in 2022.
Outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) has endorsed Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill over his own Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way. Way has the backing of Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus PAC, which is known for its centrist lean.
So, the special election is shaping out to be, once again, a battle between establishment Democrats and progressives — an early nod at what is sure to be a competitive 2026 cycle not just between Democrats and Republicans, but within the Democratic Party.
Hank Sheinkopf, veteran strategist for both parties, said in an interview that Mejia’s progressive platform may backfire in a district like Sherrill’s.
“If it’s all the way on the left, it doesn’t work for that district,” Sheinkopf said. “If it’s too far on the right, it doesn’t work for that district. Sherrill, if anything, is down the middle. That’s how she ran for office, that’s how she was elected into office, that’s how she stayed in office, and that’s how she was elected governor.”
“If anybody is too extreme in that district, they’re not going to win. Just doesn’t matter,” he said.
Based on her campaign website and endorsements, Mejia will be leaning fully into her progressive roots for this bid. She will rally with her former boss, Sanders, on Monday evening in the 11th District as part of his “Fighting the Oligarchy” tour stop.
Republicans are already taking advantage of Ocasio-Cortez’s and Sanders’s endorsement of Mejia.
“Progressive hero AOC wants to abolish ICE, cut off funding to Israel, and impeach President Trump,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole said in a statement. “And Analilia Mejia is standing right there with her.”
The 11th District used to be a safe Republican district, but it shifted for Democrats when Sherrill defeated GOP state Assemblyman Jay Webber in 2018 — a year in which Democrats had a “blue wave,” picking up 40 seats in the House.
Sherrill kept her seat for the next three cycles, with Biden in 2020 becoming the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the 11th District since 1984. Due to redistricting following the 2020 census, the district shifted more blue after losing its share of the heavily Republican Sussex County, and Sherrill more easily won reelection in 2022 and 2024.
But just because the district leans blue doesn’t mean it’s a sure bet for the party in this upcoming special election.
It is notable that Democrats are currently riding a high note. Since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, special elections in states across the country have gone to Democrats — including seats that were held by Republicans for years.
Many strategists have noted that special and off-year elections aren’t always indicative of a party’s success in the midterm elections. But Democrats’ success in the 2025 general elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York City breathed new life into the party, which is fired up to bring a blue wave akin to one in 2018 to the 2026 elections.
As reflected in the 2025 results, driving factors for turnout this cycle include Democrats’ fury with Republicans’ actions in Washington, as well as the economy and domestic issues. The record-breaking government shutdown did not help the GOP last year, particularly in New Jersey after the president paused funding for the Hudson Tunnel project to connect the state to New York.
Despite Trump touting his successes in the foreign policy sphere, years’ worth of political data show issues along the U.S. border are more at the forefront of voters’ minds, Sheinkopf said.
“Domestic issues are beginning to take more hold,” Sheinkopf said. “And Trump is obviously not doing well, therefore the party isn’t doing well, because he’s the leader of the party. And those are the things that people are really going to consider, who can best deal with those questions. But they’re not going to deal with someone who is in extremes, on either side.”
Sheinkopf added that someone such as Mejia could give Hathaway an easier path to victory. Sherrill will more likely throw her weight behind someone who represents the platform she ran on in the 2025 election.
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“Should someone way on the left who is radical win that primary? It’ll be hard for the governor to engage, and therefore harder for the Democrats to win — although they should, but it’ll be harder,” Sheinkopf said.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Hathaway and the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC for comment.