With Mikie Sherrill resigning her Congressional seat to become Governor of New Jersey, South Orange and Maplewood will help decide the race for the next Congressperson to represent NJ-11. Special Election Day is Thursday, April 16, but the Essex County Clerk begins mailing sample ballots for Special General Election on April 1, and Early Voting for the Special General Election begins on April 6 and runs through April 14. Read more election coverage here.
Former Randolph Mayor and NJ-11 Special Election Republican nominee Joe Hathaway is aiming to flip NJ-11’s congressional map from blue to red, challenging Democratic control of the seat Gov. Mikie Sherrill has held since taking office in 2019 until resigning last fall to lead the state. Throughout his campaign, Hathaway has spent time traveling across the district, speaking directly to voters — including an event in South Orange — in an effort to mobilize voters to flip the seat.
Originally from Clifton, New Jersey, Hathaway graduated from Yale University in 2009 with a degree in Political Science. Despite his degree, Hathaway says he did not always see himself becoming a politician. While a football athlete at Yale, Hathaway became drawn to politics because of its focus on public service.
“I played football, a lot of my teammates maybe went into economics or [went] into banking; that just wasn’t for me,” said Hathaway in a recent interview with The Village Green. “I liked engaging with people. I liked helping people. I always felt that — being a political science major, understanding how we can create an environment that’s built on servant leadership at the local level, I think that was something that was something that I adhered to.”
After graduating, Hathaway instead wanted to focus his career on gaining professional experience. Hathaway worked in a governor’s office before spending more than a decade working in the private sector. Over time, his interest in public service and local leadership helped steer him toward getting more involved politically.
Hathaway served as Randolph’s mayor in 2025 and currently sits on the township council. These experiences shape Hathaway’s policies, particularly the idea that an effective government is rooted in problem solving opposed to partisan politics. Hathaway emphasizes focusing on initiatives that impact the daily lives of residents, including community programming and long-term planning for the township’s future.
As Hathaway is navigating the NJ-11 special election, he says he’s following the same way of thinking, focusing on the issues that matter most to voters and practical results.
“That same approach really is what’s been grounding our race for Congress,” said Hathaway. “It’s about the hard work, it’s about the results. It’s about helping people, representing your district and trying to make life more affordable, trying to make life better for people, and then getting [the] government out of the way and letting people be successful.”
When asked about his approach to working with the Trump administration, Hathaway explained his bipartisan openness to working with any administration to ensure voters in the district get their needed policies. Hathaway also emphasized his focus on policies over political parties. It’s clearly a message aimed at swaying a now blue, formerly purple district — but is it enough to peel off votes in deep blue SOMA, where local voters chose Kamala Harris over Donald Trump by a 9-1 margin?
“I will work with any administration, Republican or Democrat, when it helps the families and businesses of NJ-11,” said Hathaway in an emailed statement to The Village Green. “If an administration is advancing policies that strengthen our economy, keep our communities safe, or deliver value for our state — like with the recent quadrupling of the SALT Deduction, I’ll be a willing partner. But my first responsibility is to the people I represent, not to any one party.” When policies hurt our district, like how the Gateway Tunnel has been handled, I will speak up and fight for New Jersey. Independence isn’t a slogan for me, it’s how I’ll do the job.”
Throughout Hathaway’s time campaigning around the district, he deepened his focus on what he describes as “clear choice” contrast between him and his opponent Analilia Mejia, former national political director for Senator Bernie Sanders’ 2020 Presidential run and current co-executive director of Popular Democracy.
Hathaway says he identifies affordability as one of the biggest issues in NJ-11. In the interview with The Village Green, Hathaway explained a policy push he supports to help with the affordability crisis in the district.
“Some of my big policy pushes that we’re working on are instituting a tax freeze for first time home buyers, so when they’re making that critical purchase, they have more money in their pocket at this most important time when they’re planting their roots and really building their future.”
Hathaway also mentioned capping student loan interests to combat the affordability issue in the district.
“Student loan debt or take on federal loans, we want to cap those loan [interests] so they’re not just trying to pay back interest that’s rising and rising and rising and never able to actually get ahead in their careers,” said Hathaway.
Hathaway criticizes his opponent Mejia tax policies, arguing that her policies would raise taxes and increase the burden on average residents.
The former Randolph mayor also advocates for more affordable healthcare by highlighting the importance of price transparency and increasing options and competition. Hathaway opposes single-payer and “socialized” healthcare, arguing those policies would require higher taxes.
“If you look at those policies driving affordability by lowering our tax burden, and you look at my opponents and Ms. Mejia, her policies are only going to drive taxes through the roof for the working class and middle class here,” Hathaway said. “Her policies when it comes to things like a one payer health care system, socialized medicine, socialized education, where it’s just taxpayers funding all education here in the state of New Jersey, someone has to pay for that at the end of the day.”
Hathaway frames his economic policy and ideology as “common sense and practical leadership,” grounded in local government results and affordability. He believes that this is one of the biggest differences between himself and his opponent.
“I think at the end of the day, what we’ve built my campaign upon is common sense, practical leadership,” said Hathaway. “The way we’ve gotten it done at the local level, and bringing that down to Washington to solve problems. I think that is a stark contrast to Ms. Mejia, who has run a campaign on the platform that is based in what I believe is radical socialist ideology.”
Mejia has drawn criticism for her critical stance on Israel by her opponents, as well as her economic policies. Hathaway says he is aligned with the Jewish community concerns and supports Israel’s right to exist and defend itself.
Hathaway drew a sharp contrast between himself and his opponent, arguing that her policies and stances are against the values of the people of this district.
“I got to tell you, on all three of those, whether it’s ‘defund the police’, whether it’s socialist economic policies or whether it’s antisemitism, those positions are just out of touch with the people of this district.”
Immigration is a significant topic that plays a role in swaying voters. Hathaway says he supports a two-track approach: A pathway to recognition and removal of serious offenders.
“I believe that if people have been here for a long time, if they’ve been contributing to their community, if they’ve been contributing to our state, if they’ve been paying taxes, if they’ve been a positive impact in our community, they should have a path to recognition here in America, and we should find a way to embrace that,” Hathaway said to The Village Green.
On and US. .Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Hathaway says he believes in reforming ICE operations by providing better de-escalation training and body cameras.
Hathaway said that during his campaigning he is also expanding his outreach in progressive communities, such as South Orange and Maplewood, as a key part of his campaign strategy. In South Orange, Maplewood and towns alike, he says he expressed his surprise in the openness from voters who typically don’t vote Republican.
“I’ve heard directly from people that maybe would not ever consider voting for [a] Republican, but don’t believe that their nominee’s positions are at all indicative of what they believe,” Hathaway told The Village Green. “And I’ve had people say, ‘Don’t give up on South Orange, don’t give up on Maplewood because we don’t believe that we support our Jewish community, we support law enforcement.’”
Michael Goldberg and Joe Hathaway, March 16, 2026 in South Orange, NJ.
Former South Orange Trustee Michael Goldberg, a registered Independent who said he usually endorses Democrats, has endorsed Hathaway.
“In all my years as a voter I have never publicly endorsed a Republican candidate,” wrote Goldberg in a letter to the editor. “We are facing more than routine partisan disagreement. We, especially those of us in the Jewish community and those who support Israel as a Jewish state, are confronting an existential threat in Joe’s opponent.”
Goldberg, who hosted a meet and greet with Hathaway at a South Orange home on March 16, added, “Joe Hathaway is an independent leader who offers a clear alternative: steady, pragmatic, solutions-driven leadership grounded in common sense and accountability. He is not running to inflame division or score partisan points. He is running to restore seriousness, moderation, and reason to Congress to deliver real results for NJ-11 families.”
Aside from campaigning in SOMA, Hathaway enjoys the restaurants the town has to offer and the memories he’s made at Seton Hall University back when he was in college with friends.
“For Maplewood, Coda is a great spot, a good happy hour spot, a good lunch spot, anytime of day,” said Hathaway. “That’s a good spot to be. For South Orange, some memories that I have there was [at] Seton Hall and just having friends and when I was in college, kind of spending time on campus and different things like that.”
This story is by David Bien-Aime, a journalism major at Montclair State University and Editor in Chief of The Montclarion. Bien-Aime is working with Village Green through a grant from the NJ Civic Information Consortium.
