Voters in New Jersey's 11th Congressional District headed to the polls on Thursday for a special Democratic primary to fill the seat vacated by newly elected Governor Mikie Sherrill. The crowded field of 11 candidates highlights tensions between progressive and moderate wings of the party, with immigration enforcement emerging as a key issue. The winner will face Republican Joe Hathaway in an April general election.
The special primary election in New Jersey's 11th Congressional District marks one of the first congressional races of 2026, offering insights into Democratic voter priorities amid national debates on immigration and economic concerns. Mikie Sherrill, who flipped the longtime Republican seat in 2018, resigned after winning the governorship in November 2025. The district, now more Democratic following 2022 redistricting, includes commuters to New York and faces pressing infrastructure needs like the $16 billion Gateway tunnel project, whose federal funding was frozen by the Trump administration last October.
Eleven Democrats competed, ranging from establishment figures to progressive challengers. Former Representative Tom Malinowski, who served two terms in a neighboring district before losing in 2022 due to redistricting, garnered support from Senator Andy Kim. Kim praised Malinowski's experience: "Tom Malinowski knows the House of Representatives. He knows Congress. He knows New Jersey. He knows how to be able to stand up to Donald Trump, and that's what I need right now is someone there as a partner with me in the Capitol."
Labor activist Analilia Mejia, director of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance, emerged as the progressive frontrunner, endorsed by Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. At a January event with Sanders, Mejia criticized moderate Democrats: "In a moment of rising authoritarianism, of economic insecurity, of state-sanctioned violence, any old blue just won't do. If you send weak sauce to Congress, we will get weak sauce back." She called for abolishing ICE, stating, "You can't reform that. It's not fixable. Get it out. Kick it over. It is done. Forget it."
Immigration took center stage, fueled by recent fatal shootings of Nicole Macklin Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minnesota. At a forum hosted by AAPI New Jersey, candidates varied in their stances: former Lieutenant Governor Tahesha Way said she would be open to defunding ICE, noting, "Budgets are supposed to be about values," while venture capitalist Zach Beecher advocated "getting rid of ICE." Other contenders included Passaic County Commissioner John W. Bartlett, Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill, and several newcomers.
Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, emphasized the race's short timeline: "With a short runway of a special election – name recognition, money, experience – all can matter." The outcome could signal whether far-left positions on ICE resonate in this historically moderate district or if voters favor pragmatism, especially as affordability remains a top local issue in high-cost New Jersey.
