Sanders and the AOC backed a Democrat winning a New Jersey special election seat

The Republicans failed in their campaign to fill the vacancy The US House seat in the blue-leaning state of northern New Jersey.

Democrat Analilia Mejia, who was supported by progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of neighboring New York defeated GOP candidate Joe Hathaway in Thursday’s special election in New Jersey’s 11th District, the Associated Press reported.

With his victory, Mejia will fill the last eight months of Gov. Mikie Sherrilla Democratic representative who resigned from Congress in November after winning the New Jersey gubernatorial election.

The special election comes as the GOP clings to a fragile House majority. Republicans would have relished the chance to pick up the seat, but they face an uphill battle to flip a suburban district Sherrill won by 15 points in her 2024 re-election bid and was treated nearly the same way in last year’s general election.

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Mejia, a progressive activist who served as the national political director for Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, vented his anger in the February 2015 Democratic Alliance, fielding a moderate challenger to former Rep. Tom Malinowski in the field of 11 people. While Mejia was the clear choice for the left wing of the party, the rest of the field appeared to split the middle and center left vote.

His victory was another boost for the anti-establishment left behind the Democratic New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sent shock waves across the country with his Democratic primary victory in June 2025.

Hathaway, a former Randolph Township mayor and current council member who did not run for the GOP convention nomination, told Fox News Digital that voters’ choice is between “a common sense, independent leader who has done things at the local level.” New Jersey and you know the issues, compared to someone who uses a pure view, a leftist view, a party-backed view. “

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Analilia Mejia received the nomination of the Democratic Party in a special election to determine who will fill the vacant seat of Gov. New Jersey’s Mikie Sherrill. (Heather Khalifa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Mejia recently appeared at a town hall with Malinowski and, on Sunday, met with Sherrill on his campaign trail as he aims to rally Democrats, who enjoy a big registration advantage in the district.

Hathaway said Mejia was trying to “hide a little bit” in some of his speeches, because he knows those policies don’t work at all, but he’s not fooling voters. It certainly doesn’t fool us.”

Jewish voters make up a significant portion of the district’s electorate, and Hathaway, in the only debate in the special election, said Mejia was anti-Semitic, noting that he said Israel had committed genocide in Gaza.

“He he blamed Israel about the attack on Hamas on October 7,” Hathaway said. “I think Jewish people throughout this region, Republican or Democrat, are very afraid of this kind of rhetoric.”

Hathaway said, “I’ve talked to a lot of members of the Jewish community who have told me that they’ve never voted Republican in their life, they’re going to vote for me in this race. I mean, that shows you where the Jewish community values ​​this race and how it doesn’t support Mejia … and his platform.”

Mejia pledged to “defend the rights of the Jewish people,” and said his criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza should not be conflated with anti-Semitism.

In a statement sent to Fox News Digital, Mejia said, “Joe Hathaway’s inability to distinguish between criticizing the government or a public official and racism is troubling and disgusting in equal measure.”

Mejia last week tweeted that he was “honored” after being endorsed by the liberal pro-Israel political group J Street PAC. But his acceptance of the endorsement caused a backlash on the left, with the North Jersey Democratic Socialists of America calling the movement “turned heel.”

Hathaway, as she works to win over independents and Democrats, has revealed where she agrees and disagrees with the President. Donald Trumpwho lost the district by eight points in the 2024 presidential election.

REPUBLICANS WIN BUT DEMOCRATS ALSO WANT TO WIN AT LETTER BOX CONTINUES IN TRUMP AREA

Campaign signs for Republican candidate Joe Hathaway and Democrat Analilia Mejia in the NJ-11 congressional special election, in Randolph, New Jersey on April 13, 2026. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

“I will always do what is right for this state first. And I have been clear: If the president is going to do good things in the state, to increase the release of the SALT cap, to put money back into people’s pockets, especially in New Jersey, affordability is very difficult here. If we do things like border security, reduce fentanyl deaths as we have seen those policies in our community.

“But on the other hand, if the president is going to do things that are not compatible with our region, it is my job to back off, and that’s exactly what I did,” he said proudly.

Hathaway pointed to Trump’s move last year to cut billions of dollars from the Gateway Project, which is funding a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New Jersey and New York, as well as the president’s plans to cut about 1,000 jobs and defund a military base in New Jersey.

“I’m going to call balls and strikes in this race. I’m not going to be anybody’s rubber stamp,” Hathaway said.

And Hathaway predicted, “I think we have the right numbers, the right bipartisan coalition to come together to win this thing on April 16.”

Republican Congressman Joe Hathaway speaks to constituents at the Randolph Diner, April 13, 2026, in Randolph, New Jersey. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

But Hathaway came up short, given the dire political climate facing Republicans and the storms of the ruling party.

Mejia has repeatedly tied Hathaway to Trump and Republicans in Congress.

“MAGA Republicans are running a daily spending spree with extreme policies supported by my opponent. Health care programs and critical programs are being gutted to fund tax breaks for the super rich. We can’t afford another Trump vote in Congress,” he wrote in a recent social media post.

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Dan Cassino, a Fairleigh Dickinson University political science professor and researcher, called Hathaway’s hopes of capturing crossover Democrats “a pipe dream.”

“Democrats in general don’t seem interested in finding common ground with Trump,” Cassino said Monday, as he predicted the majority of voters in the special election would be strong supporters. “Democratic polling is through the roof and Republican voters are depressed right now.”