91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Watch CBS News
Local News

Democrat Analilia Mejia projected to win special election for New Jersey House seat vacated by Gov. Mikie Sherrill

By
Jeff Capellini
Digital Producer, CBS New York
Jeff Capellini has been digital producer at CBS New York for 20 years. He previously worked for The Associated Press and several newspapers.
Read Full Bio
Jeff Capellini,
Adi Guajardo
Adi Guajardo
Adi Guajardo is a bilingual general assignment reporter with a focus on immigration and mental health.
Read Full Bio
Adi Guajardo,
Christine Sloan
Christine Sloan
Christine Sloan
Christine Sloan is an Emmy Award-winning reporter, who covers New Jersey for CBS News New York. Sloan re-joined the station in January 2023. She also worked at CBS News New York from 2004 to 2016.
Read Full Bio
Christine Sloan

/ CBS/AP

CBS News projects that Democrat Analilia Mejia will win the special election in New Jersey's 11th Congressional District, a seat formerly held by Gov. Mikie Sherrill.

Mejia cruised to victory Thursday over Republican Joe Hathaway and independent Alan Bond.

She will serve out the remainder of Sherrill's term, which ends in January. The district encompasses parts of Essex, Morris and Passaic counties. 

The seat was a longtime Republican stronghold, but has become increasingly Democratic since President Donald Trump's first term. Voter registration records show Democrats outnumber Republicans in the district by more than 60,000 voters.

"We did the impossible and we won"

analilia-mejia.jpg
Analilia Mejia speaks to supporters after winning New Jersey's 11th Congressional District special election on April 16, 2026, in Montclair, New Jersey. AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

Not long after being projected the winner, Mejia spoke to an enthusiastic crowd of supporters in Montclair who called out in unison with her that she was an "unbought, unbossed, sassy new member of Congress."

"The odds were stacked against us, but we did the impossible and we won," Mejia said.

Mejia, the daughter of a Dominican factory worker and a Colombian seamstress, touted herself as a candidate with community. During her victory speech, she called out Hathaway.

"My opponent, he, I am going to I guess be political and say he ran the best race he could. However, he spent the majority of his campaign calling me little boy and saying my ideas were too radical. But you know what? That was a mind trick. It is not radical to say that in the wealthiest nation in the world that we should do more to protect the health of its people," Mejia said.

Hathaway released a statement following his defeat, writing, in part, "I want to congratulate Analilia Mejia on her victory in this special election," adding, "This was a unique and, frankly, unusual election. The structure and timing, set by a partisan Democratic governor, produced exactly the kind of low-turnout environment that benefits one party."

Mejia will have to run again in November if she wants to keep the seat for a full two-year term.

Democrat Analilia Mejia's platform  

Mejia is a progressive who is the former head of the Working Families Alliance. She emerged from a crowded Democratic field in February, when she held a very slim lead. 

Mejia also worked for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders as his political director during his 2020 presidential bid. She is endorsed by him, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. 

on populist economic policies and pushed to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Some of Mejia's priorities include taxing billionaires, raising wages and universal child care and health care.

"I think that we should ensure that not only homeowners have greater economic stability by making SALT tax deductions permanent, but we should also ensure that renters have affordability. We are on track to have close to 40% of rental markets to be snatched up by private equity firms," Mejia said.

Republican ads painted Mejia as a socialist -- a question she was asked about Thursday.

"I think my opponent is super desperate. The truth is, he plays it fast and loose with the truth. I have been a Democratic county committeewoman for 13 years in this district," she said. "I've helped to let Democrats, I've help to push for smart policy. And I think, you know, again, my opponent doesn't have a track record that is worth running on. So instead, he's defaulted to spurious attacks."

In:

© 2026 91³Ô¹ÏÍø. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
const link = doc.createElement('link'); link.rel = 'stylesheet'; link.href = '/fly/fly/bundles/cbsnewscontent/css/cmp-banner.min.css?v=296763317a51cab90faa73f1bb146d5c'; doc.head.appendChild(link); doc.body.innerHTML = CONSENT_MESSAGE; } else { el.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', CONSENT_MESSAGE); } }); } function hidePrivacyMessage() { // Remove from the main document document.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); // Remove from inside any iframes document.querySelectorAll('iframe').forEach(iframe => { const doc = iframe.contentDocument || iframe.contentWindow.document; doc.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); }); } function activateGatedScripts() { // Handle both new format (cmp-gated-script) and old OneTrust/Ketch format (optanon-category-4) const gatedScripts = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('script.cmp-gated-script, script.optanon-category-4')); // Activate scripts sequentially with a small delay to avoid timing issues let delay = 0; gatedScripts.forEach(function(placeholder, index) { setTimeout(function() { // Skip if already processed if (placeholder.hasAttribute('data-cmp-processed')) { return; } placeholder.setAttribute('data-cmp-processed', 'true'); const newScript = document.createElement('script'); newScript.type = 'text/javascript'; // Try new format first (data-cmp-src), then fall back to old format (data-src) const src = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-src') || placeholder.getAttribute('data-src'); if (src) { newScript.src = src; } else if (placeholder.textContent) { // Inline script - just copy the content newScript.textContent = placeholder.textContent; } // Handle new format attributes (data-cmp-attrs) - for both inline and external scripts const attrs = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-attrs'); if (attrs) { const tempDiv = document.createElement('div'); tempDiv.innerHTML = '
<\/div>'; const tempAttrs = tempDiv.firstChild.attributes; for (let i = 0; i < tempAttrs.length; i++) { // For external scripts, allow defer/async. For inline scripts, skip them (not valid) if (src || (tempAttrs[i].name !== 'async' && tempAttrs[i].name !== 'defer')) { newScript.setAttribute(tempAttrs[i].name, tempAttrs[i].value); } } } // Copy other attributes from old OneTrust format for (let i = 0; i < placeholder.attributes.length; i++) { const attr = placeholder.attributes[i]; // Skip attributes we've already handled or don't want to copy if (!['class', 'data-src', 'data-type', 'data-cmp-src', 'data-cmp-attrs', 'data-cmp-processed', 'type', 'async', 'defer', 'src'].includes(attr.name)) { newScript.setAttribute(attr.name, attr.value); } } placeholder.parentNode.replaceChild(newScript, placeholder); // If external script, manually trigger window.onload handlers after it loads // This handles widgets that use window.onload for initialization if (src) { newScript.addEventListener('load', function() { // If page already loaded and script set a new onload handler, trigger it if (document.readyState === 'complete' && window.onload) { const originalOnload = window.onload; window.onload = null; // Clear temporarily to prevent loops originalOnload(); // Execute the handler } }); } }, delay); delay += 500; // 500ms delay between each script to allow full loading }); } cbsoptanon.onScriptsReady(function(cmp) { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (!allowed) { showPrivacyMessage(); } else { activateGatedScripts(); } }); cmp.ot.awaitInitialConsent(function(consent_model) { cmp.ot.addOnConsentChangedHandler(function() { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (allowed) { hidePrivacyMessage(); activateGatedScripts(); } else { showPrivacyMessage(); } }); }); }); });