Just minutes after polls closed at 8 p.m. on April 16, the Associated Press called the NJ-11 special Congressional election to fill the seat vacated by Gov. Mikie Sherrill for Democrat Analilia Mejia.
Painted as a radical by her opponent, Mejia nonetheless secured a resounding win that was greeted by Democrats nationally as yet another harbinger of a blue wave headed into the midterm elections, as well as a victory for the party’s progressive flank.
With 94% of the expected votes counted, Mejia led opponent Joe Hathaway by 20 points — greater than Mikie Sherrill’s 15-point margin in 2024. Mejia carried the Morris County portion of NJ-11 by 8 points and the Essex County portion by more than 40 points. Hathaway edged ahead of Mejia in the four Passaic County towns with 127 more votes.
Mejia will be the first Latina to lead NJ-11.
She referenced her “shocking” primary win at her victory speech in Montclair, telling supporters, “In November, when I jumped into this race, the odds were stacked against us. But you know — we did the impossible, and we won!”
Throughout the evening, supporters broke out into chants of “Si, se puede” — “Yes, we can.”
Mejia now must run again for the regular June 2 primary; general election is November 3.
Watch Mejia’s victory speech here:
