They warned us that the Democratic Socialists of America were coming to a town near you. I just didn’t realize it was going to be my town.
In New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District — a region defined by manicured lawns, multimillion-dollar estates, and quaint bistros — Rep. Analilia Mejia (D-NJ), a radical Democratic socialist, cruised to victory in a special election for the U.S. House. Backed by an all-star roster of Socialists featuring Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), the “Squad” just gained its newest member.
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I know this area well; I grew up there. I once served as the Republican County Chair for several towns within the district. But over the years, the ground shifted beneath our feet. Through the alchemy of redistricting, reliably red enclaves were carved away, leaving a purple hue. Then came the demographic “Big Bang”: an influx of affordable housing, a post-COVID exodus from New York City, and a local electorate embittered by the $10,000 SALT tax cap. Almost overnight, the “purple” NJ-11 bled into a deep shade of blue. The Cook Political Report no longer calls it a toss-up; it’s now “Solid Democrat.”
The new suburban radicalism
Mejia won because the progressive machine is a disciplined, well-funded juggernaut. With the Communications Workers of America, the Service Employees International Union, and the Working Families Party providing the muscle, and billionaire George Soros and his ilk providing the money, the far Left has mastered the game. So she was able to defeat the party bosses in the primary and their hand-picked “centrist” candidate.
So did the moderate Democrat voters reject Mejia in the general election? Nope. In the swanky boutiques of some of New Jersey’s wealthiest zip codes, the person ordering a skinny oat-milk latte cast a ballot for a candidate who campaigned on abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a $25 minimum wage, and raising taxes on the wealthy. The lesson is clear: in a blue district, the primary is the only race that matters. If a socialist wins the primary, they will win the general. We saw this play out with Zohran Mamdani in the City That Never Sleeps, and we are now seeing it in the towns that most definitely have an early bedtime.
The same may prove true in another suburban district, NJ-12, where the front-runner, Dr. Adam Hamawy, recently appeared on streamer Hasan Piker’s podcast. This radical doesn’t just want to abolish ICE; he wants to really go for broke and completely abolish the Department of Homeland Security. He’s also for canceling student loan debt, canceling medical debt, taxing billionaires, Medicare for All, and “healthcare not bombs” — whatever that means. He passed Piker’s “Zohran test” with flying colors, and so yet another socialist is poised to win the primary and, thus, the general election. Who says a guy can’t join the Squad anyway?
The silver lining for the GOP
There is a strategic paradox here that may favor the GOP. As the Democratic Party’s center of gravity shifts further left to appease the Mejia and Mamdani wings, the “center lane” of the party is vanishing. As we look toward 2028, any Democrat with national ambitions will be forced to chase the votes of the party’s most extreme, because they are the ones who turn out in the primary.
This is the GOP’s clearest path to holding the White House: letting the Democrats nominate a socialist who is unelectable on a national map thanks to the seven purple swing states.
Purple states to the rescue
In a polarized nation, the blue and red states are off the board. The fate of the Republic once again rests with the “Purple Wall”: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, and North Carolina. These are the battlegrounds where socialist utopian fantasies collide with voters looking for a reality check.
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But a White House win is a hollow victory if the halls of Congress are dominated by the fringe. We must demand a return to competitive redistricting. NJ-11 was once a place where moderates from both parties had to actually persuade voters. Now, once a map is gerrymandered into a monolith, the most radical voice in the room wins by default.
For now, our hopes lie with the purple states. Thankfully, President Donald Trump won all seven in 2024. Let’s hope the same rings true with the Republican nominee in 2028. In the meantime, we must wait for the socialist experiment to do what it has done throughout history: collapse under the weight of its own ideological delusions. Maybe then the suburban voter ordering the $7 skinny oat-milk latte will finally wake up.
Rich Zeoli is the host of “The Rich Zeoli Podcast” and a former Republican County Chair in New Jersey.