NJ special election: Live updates and results on Mejia vs. Hathaway
Kathryn PalmerVoters in northern New Jersey are back at the polls for a special election for the state’s 11th congressional district, where House Republicans’ already narrow majority is at risk of shrinking if the race’s Democratic candidate pulls ahead.
The race is primarily between Democrat Analilia Mejia and Republican Joe Hathaway, though Independent Alan Bond is also on the ballot. The candidates are running to fill the district’s empty U.S. House seat, left vacant after former Rep. Mikie Sherrill won the gubernatorial election in November.
The winner will serve out the remaining eight months of Sherrill's term, and will have to run again in the November midterm elections to serve a full two-year term starting in 2027.
Attention on the race for the Garden State district, which spans parts of Essex, Morris and Passaic counties, is especially high after a series of shakeups in Congress over the past week.
Mejia, former national political director of Senator Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign and longtime progressive organizer, is favored to win over her Republican challenger. She defeated former Rep. Tom Malinowski in the February Democratic primary, in a contentious race that saw significant outside spending by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Republican contender Hathaway is a Randolph Township Councilman and ran unopposed in the GOP primary.
Here is the latest on the New Jersey 11th Congressional District special election.
Who has raised the most money?
Kathryn Palmer
Democratic candidate Analilia Mejia is in the lead when it comes to campaign fundraising.
As of March 27, she has raised over $1 million, nearly twice the amount of her GOP competitor. Hathaway has built a campaign war chest of about $525,000, according to the most recent federal campaign funding data.
The Democratic primary in February was costlier due in large part to millions from outside spending groups. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) poured more than $2 million opposing Mejia's chief competitor, moderate Democratic former Rep. Tom Malinowski.
Race comes days after Swalwell, Gonzales shakeup in House
Kathryn Palmer
The special election comes days after back-to-back shakeups in the House that has briefly widened the GOP's razor-thin majority. If progressive Democrat Analilia Mejia is victorious in the largely blue-leaning district, Speaker Mike Johnson will see that advantage whittled down once again.
This week, two congressmen − Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) − announced their resignations following separate sexual misconduct allegations. That GOP loss was buoyed by a new member sworn in on Tuesday, April 14. Rep. Clay Fuller won a recent special election in Georgia to fill former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s vacated seat.
That gave Republicans a 217-seat majority, to Democrats' 213, plus one independent and four vacant seats, including the 11th Congressional District seat. If Mejia wins, the GOP majority will shrink to three seats.
Who is Republican candidate Joe Hathaway?
Kathryn Palmer
Joe Hathaway, the race's GOP candidate, previously served as an aide to former Gov. Chris Christie. He is a member of Randolph's Township Council, a position he has held since 2022, and served as the township's mayor in 2025.
He was born and raised in Clifton, New Jersey and attended Yale University. According to his campaign website, he worked in corporate affairs and communications before entering into politics.
Hathaway earned his party's nomination in an uncontested primary Feb. 5. He hasn't openly embraced President Donald Trump, but he hasn't rejected the president either.
Who is Democratic candidate Analilia Mejia?
Kathryn Palmer
Democratic candidate Analilia Mejia is a well-known progressive organizer in New Jersey. She's a former national director for Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign and director of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance.
She is endorsed by top Democrats, including New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, Sanders, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
According to her campaign website, she was born and raised in New Jersey and is the daughter of Colombian and Dominican immigrants.