WOWSAHS!!
I have to admit with wars, fuel protests, and all things Swalwell, I was unaware of this one, but I'll try to make up for it now.
If you live in New Jersey Congressional District 11 - or know anyone who does - GO VOTE IN TOMORROW'S SPECIAL ELECTION.
This is the one they're holding to fill the remainder of the term that was vacated when the risible Democrat Mikie Sherrill won the governorship, and due to the peculiarity of the timing, thanks to Sherrill's victory, they'll both be running again in November.
Joe Hathaway, the former mayor of Randolph township and now one of their councilmen, is the Republican on the ballot. He seems, by all accounts, to be a normal guy and well respected.
One of the North Jersey papers describes him as 'old school GOP' - a guy who represents his district first and the national party later. For instance, he's fighting to keep Picatinny Arsenal open and the Gateway Project going, both of which are on the Trump administration's hit list.
On the stump on the night of Wednesday, April 8, Joe Hathaway, a straight-out-of-central-casting moderate Republican candidate for Congress, extolled the virtues of a political and governing style that has virtually vanished from Washington, DC: bipartisan cooperation.
“You guys send us down to represent you, and that means we've got to go to work," Hathaway told a mostly Republican audience of about 40 at a local community center. “So that means we're gonna do what's right for the American people and work with people you don't always agree with. Guess what? We all do that at our day jobs, right? We have people at work that we don't like, right?”
Some NJ Dems are endorsing Hathaway in a heavily Democratic district.
🚨THREE New Jersey Democrat officials endorse Republican Joe Hathaway in an upcoming special election for Congress in NJ11, SNUBBING Democrat Analila Mejia, labeling her a socialist
— Michael Casey (@MichaelCasey_) March 18, 2026
Flipping this seat would be critical to the narrow GOP house majority. With Democrats turning on… pic.twitter.com/Pjca2XaFPp
He's a classic Mid-Atlantic moderate Republican and would do great in D.C.
A critically important watch. Thanks for catching up with me @steinhauserNH1! https://t.co/dPsEO6dSUx
— Joe Hathaway for Congress (@HathawayForNJ11) April 15, 2026
But WOOF. What he's up against and who is leading in the polls at the moment is something else entirely.
The victor in a fractious Democrat primary race with eleven participants, candidate and former Bernie Sanders staffer Analilia Mejia is the female Zohran Mandani of current NJ Democrat politics - as radical as they come.
...Analilia Mejia’s rise from well-respected but little-known progressive operative to (assuming she wins the April general election) a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, a rise that took just ten weeks in total, will go down as one of the most remarkable sagas in recent New Jersey political history. And – like so many other New Jersey election results that have taken the state’s political class by surprise in the last few years – it signals a sea change in how Garden State voters are approaching politics in the modern era.
...But she had a plan that rendered all of those typical indicators moot: combining the Democratic field’s most left-wing policy platform, a crackerjack army of activist groups and volunteers, and high-profile supporters like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Lots of underdog progressives will say that they’re going to win because of “the grassroots,” but Mejia, who frequently referenced her background in organizing on the campaign trail, knew how to actually make it happen.
...The New Jersey progressive movement got its biggest win yet. National reporting on Mejia’s win has focused, not unreasonably, on her ties to prominent progressives around the country like Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez. Mejia may end up becoming the newest member of “the Squad,” and coming from a suburban, majority-white district, no less.
But her victory is even more meaningful for the state progressive groups that have toiled away for decades, typically running up against the wall of New Jersey’s robust but faltering political machine. Although some members of the state’s congressional delegation (like Senator Andy Kim) won against the wishes of party leaders and others (like Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman) have become close progressive allies, Mejia is the first member of the delegation, and one of the first New Jersey politicians period, to be a product of the movement that’s reshaping state politics.
And that manifested on the ground over the course of the ten-week sprint to Election Day. CWA, SEIU, the Working Families Party, Make the Road Action NJ – they were out in force to elect one of their own, creating one of the most impressive get-out-the-vote operations the state has seen.
YOICKS
Mejia is not a friend of Israel.
...“Again, I think I’ve been very clear on my position here, and I understand that many individuals are feeling conflicted about what we are seeing in Gaza. But here is the bottom line: 80% of Gaza is in rubble,” she said. “Can we agree that that is wrong? Can we agree that cutting the electricity to water desalinization plants is not only wrong, but it goes against the Geneva Convention, and it is a war crime? Can we agree that we can see that Benjamin Netanyahu is moving policies that actually undermine freedom and peace in the Middle East?”
She continued: “I stand by the fact that I’ve called Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal. I believe that criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu and his administration is not anti-Israel any more than criticism of Donald Trump is anti-American.”
The woman running for Congress in NJ District 11 who said, "And if [antisemitism] is the worse thing that I could be accused of, then I will stand with it..." is naturally being endorsed by J Street.
— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) April 10, 2026
They truly deserve each other. pic.twitter.com/ivXYgVYXvs
Mejia has been consistent, if nothing else.
...The ongoing Israel-Hamas War and support for Israel has been a major issue in the campaign. A super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee spent more than $2.3 million to defeat Malinowski, who had questioned providing unconditional aid to the Israeli government. During a primary campaign forum, Mejia was the only candidate to indicate she believes Israel committed genocide in Gaza. She has also called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal. Hathaway has said the U.S. should stand “ in lockstep ” with Israel and opposes putting conditions on aid to an ally.
And her immigration stance is intolerable.
...On immigration, Mejia, who describes herself as an Afro-Latina, repeated her calls to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She said the agency is plagued with recruitment and accountability issues, and that it should be replaced with a system based on immigration judges and smarter enforcement.
“Immigrants are … afraid to report crimes, and that leads to greater insecurity. We shouldn’t have armed thugs that have such immunity that they act with impunity, shooting American people,” she said, adding, “This is not the America we want to live in.”
The state Democratic Party obviously sees the pendulum swinging far to the left.
The fact Sherrill, a moderate’s moderate, got behind Mejia for her old seat and is rallying with her kind of shows how the state establishment sees the party going https://t.co/410rdkTKMk
— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) April 11, 2026
And it's been a Democrat district for a while.
Yeah, Hathaway is up against some tough odds, but that doesn't mean he can't take it if Republicans would just come out to get the job done.
Don't forget to remind folks in New Jersey's 11th District that there is a special election for Mikie Sherrill's seat
— Wake Up NJ 🇺🇸 New Jersey (@wakeupnj) April 10, 2026
The Democratic party is running a left wing socialist Analilia Mejia, get everyone out to vote for Republican Joe Hathaway pic.twitter.com/DoXqpbiivh
But they have to show up tomorrow.
This Thursday’s special election may be on an unusual day, but the choice is clear.
— Joe Hathaway for Congress (@HathawayForNJ11) April 15, 2026
NJ-11 deserves common-sense, independent leadership, not far-left extremism.
Let’s send a message and get it done. pic.twitter.com/Ao6ctwUYy2
With Mikie Sherrill already getting booed at Devils' hockey games, who knows?
There might just be a shot.
Crazier things have happened, but the folks in #NJ11 have got to vote to do it.
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