Rep. Analilia Mejia (D-NJ) was sworn in to the lower chamber Monday to finish out the rest of Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s term.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) swore in the New Jersey progressive shortly after the House returned to Washington.
Mejia, a social justice activist and former political staffer for Sen. Bernie Sanders‘ (I-VT) 2020 presidential campaign, won a special election to replace Sherrill in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District on April 16.
With 95% of the votes counted, Mejia won 59.5% over her Republican challenger Joe Hathaway who garnered 40% of the votes.
Mejia and Hathaway will likely face off again in November when voters will decide who will represent them for the full term.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris won the seat by 8 percentage points over President Donald Trump in 2024. Sherrill, then the incumbent, carried it by 15 percentage points in her successful run for governor last year. Sherrill resigned the seat in November to focus on her gubernatorial transition.
Mejia narrowly won an 11-way Democratic primary on Feb. 5, beating out former Rep. Tom Malinowski. Going into the primary, Malinowski was heavily favored but came under criticism from pro-Israel groups.
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The American Israeli Public Affairs Committee spent more than $2.3 million on negative ads targeting Malinowski and boosting former New Jersey Lt. Gov. Taesha Way. The spending effort may have inadvertently boosted Mejia, who won the primary with 29.3% to Malinowski 27.6%. Way finished firmly in third place with 17.4%.
Mejia was endorsed by 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.