Bernie-Backed Progressive Cruises To Victory — But Why A Deep-Blue Town Is The Real Story

Voters on Thursday elected Analilia Mejia, a progressive political organizer endorsed by Bernie Sanders, to replace Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District.

With 94% of the vote reported, Mejia defeated Republican Joe Hathaway by a 20-point margin, according to The New York Times, and will serve in Congress for at least the next eight months.

Mejia’s victory further narrows Republicans’ narrow majority in the U.S. House and represents a growing pattern of Democratic performance in special elections.

In her victory speech, Mejia blasted Republicans nationwide as “radicals who are willing to upend our democracy, subvert our Constitution, and act with impunity.”

“We must stop them,” she said, according to Politico. “These radicals will watch Rome burn with all of us within, and they are simply cowards – cowards unwilling to stand up to this madness. But we stand up, we resist, we will not allow it to continue.”

The leftist, who served as the national political director for Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, ran on Medicare for all, abolishing ICE, and impeaching conservative Supreme Court justices.

Thursday’s results, however, raised some red flags for the Democratic Party, as Mejia fared notably worse in the district’s Jewish neighborhoods.

“There have been clear pockets of resistance to Mejia in Livingston and Millburn, two large typically Democratic towns with large Jewish populations that may be uncomfortable with Mejia’s left-wing politics, particularly on Israel,” Steve Kornacki, Chief Data Analyst for NBC News, said.

In Livingston, New Jersey, a town with a large Jewish population, support shifted sharply away from the Democrats.

“Livingston is one of the most Jewish towns in New Jersey. It just swung 70+ points toward Republicans compared to 2024 and last year’s gubernatorial race,” Evan Rosenfeld, Deputy Digital Director of The Bulwark, said. “Democrats should pay attention to this or it may very well come back to bite them in ‘26 or ‘28.”

Livingston is one of the most Jewish towns in New Jersey.

It just swung 70+ points toward Republicans compared to 2024 and last year’s gubernatorial race.

Democrats should pay attention to this or it may very well come back to bite them in ‘26 and ‘28 https://t.co/uASem1wCHA

— Evan Rosenfeld (@Evan_Rosenfeld) April 17, 2026

A vocal critic of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mejia is likely to align herself with the “Squad” in Congress. She has called Israel’s military campaign in Gaza a “genocide“ and refused to rule out conditioning aid to the Jewish state.

Mejia stunned the Democratic establishment in February by narrowly defeating a crowded field of candidates, highlighting a surge of leftist energy within the party.

“Thank you for all who casted your votes for an unbought, unbossed, sassy new member of Congress,” Mejia said to supporters.