TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Former congressman Tom Malinowski conceded on Tuesday to Analilia Mejia, a longtime progressive activist and former political director for Sen. Bernie Sanders, in the crowded Democratic primary in New Jersey’s U.S. House special election.
The race attracted national attention as Democrats sparred over the best way to win over voters in this year's midterm elections. Mejia showcased an aggressive progressive platform in a suburban district that normally favors more moderate candidates.
During a news conference Tuesday, Mejia credited her experience as an organizer as key to her success.
“In this moment, what we want are real representatives: real representatives who will listen to the people, who will ask questions about what is keeping you up at night, who will prioritize your interest over special interests,” she said.
The special election is being held to fill the seat vacated when Mikie Sherrill stepped down to become governor. The Associated Press has not yet called Thursday’s race.
There was friction over the role of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, whose affiliated super PAC tried to thwart Malinowski after he questioned unconditional aid to the Israeli government. However, their efforts appeared to backfire. Mejia, who said she agreed Israel committed genocide in Gaza, overtook Malinowski with a narrow lead on election night.
“The outcome of this race cannot be understood without taking into account the massive flood of dark money that AIPAC spent on dishonest ads during the last three weeks,” Malinowski said in a statement.
He threw his support behind Mejia, who has been consolidating backing from her Democratic rivals. U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, who had backed Malinowski, also endorsed Mejia, as did Sherrill on Tuesday.
Matt Bennett, co-founder of the centrist Democratic organization Third Way, said AIPAC had made “a catastrophic error” and “there's a lot of anger about that.”
He expressed concern that Mejia's victory would nudge the party too far to the left ahead of the midterms.
“This idea that there’s a demand either among the Democratic electorate, primary or the general electorate for radical candidates, is baloney,” he said. “It’s just not true.”
Mejia criticized AIPAC but said that wasn't the reason that she was coming out on top.
“What they didn’t do was win this for us. How we won — it was people power,” Mejia said.
The district covers parts of Essex, Morris and Passaic counties in northern New Jersey, including some of New York City’s wealthier suburbs. All three counties in the district report some mail-in ballots yet to be processed. Additionally, mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day can arrive as late as Wednesday and still be counted.
The race was so close that the Democratic National Committee prematurely congratulated Malinowski on election night. On Tuesday, it issued another statement backing Mejia, saying, “New Jersey deserves a fighter and not a spineless Trump lackey.”
A former director of the Working Families Alliance in New Jersey, Mejia, 48, is a well-known figure in state politics, advocating for progressive causes. She was Sanders’ political director during his 2020 presidential run and served as deputy director of the Labor Department’s Women’s Bureau under President Joe Biden.
She was endorsed by noted progressives, including Sanders and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and she campaigned around the district by saying she was running against billionaires and their influence.
Mejia would face Republican Joe Hathaway, who was unopposed in his primary, in the special general election on April 16. The outcome will determine who serves the remainder of Sherrill's term until next January. There will also be a regular primary on June 2 and a general election on Nov 3.
Republicans are already taking aim at Mejia, saying she wants to “turn New Jersey into a socialist hellscape,” according to National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Maureen O'Toole.
Malinowski’s concession caps an effort to recapture a seat in Congress after he was defeated by a Republican in a different district in 2022.
Other leading Democrats who sought the nomination were Brendan Gill, an elected commissioner in Essex County, and Tahesha Way, who was lieutenant governor and secretary of state for two terms until last month.
Also on the ballot were John Bartlett, Zach Beecher, J-L Cauvin, Marc Chaaban, Cammie Croft, Dean Dafis, Jeff Grayzel, Justin Strickland and Anna Lee Williams.
Sherrill represented the district for four terms after her 2018 election. She won despite the region’s historical loyalty to the Republican Party, a dynamic that began to shift during President Donald Trump’s first term.
Steve Peoples contributed to this report.
FILE - New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill waves during her inauguration ceremony in Newark, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
FILE - Analilia Mejia, center, speaks during a rally calling for SCOTUS ethics reform, May 2, 2023, in Washington. (Joy Asico/AP Images for Center for Popular Democracy Action, File)
FILE - Democratic Congressman Tom Malinowski speaks during his election night party in Garwood, N.J., Nov. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki, File)
