A separate Democratic primary result to fill in a US House of Representatives A seat pointing north New Jersey A progressive challenger was on a knife’s edge Friday after winning a surprise lead over a former Democratic congressman.
It was prompted by her resignation after Democrat Mickey Sherrill was elected governor in Thursday’s election in New Jersey’s 11th congressional district. Eleven Democrats are running to replace her, and on Thursday evening, Tom Malinowski, who represents a neighboring district in the House from 2019 to 2022, took an early lead.
Ken Martin, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, was quick to congratulate Malinowski, but as ballot counting continued, Bernie Sanders campaigner and former political director Analilia Mejia overtook the former congressman.
The Associated Press has not yet called the race, but Mejia was leading Malinowski by 488 votes Friday morning, with more than 61,000 votes counted.
Mejia refrained from calling himself the winner, instead telling a press conference: “I think we won, but I want to make sure that every voter’s voice is heard.”
Mejia’s victory in a state where party leadership has traditionally favored establishment figures will give a boost to the progressive wing of Democrats ahead of November’s midterm elections, in which the party hopes to regain control of the House and Senate.
Responding to Mejia’s momentum, Texas Congressman Greg Cassar, who leads the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said: “Over and over again, voters are sending a message to Democrats: We need warriors who go to the mat for working people.”
A former leader of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance, Mejia entered the race as a progressive challenger and benefited from high-profile endorsements from Sanders and other left-leaning lawmakers, including Elizabeth Warren and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Her campaign emphasized A rejection of what she coined as grassroots organizing, economic justice, and establishment politics.
When Mejia campaigned with Sanders at William Paterson University in New Jersey in January, she Said: “In a time of growing authoritarianism, economic insecurity, and state-sanctioned violence, any old blue will not do.
“If you send weak sauce to Congress, we get weak sauce back,” she added.
Malinowski took over An endorsement Andy Kim, one of the state’s two Democratic senators, however, faces more than $2.3m in negative advertising paid for by the United Democracy Project, a super pac linked to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (IPAC) in Federal Election Commission filings.
Patrick Dorton, Super Pac spokesman told the New York Times The group opposed Malinowski because he had recently spoken out in favor of conditioning aid to Israel. “This is not a pro-Israel position,” he said.
in An interview with HillMalinowski, a former diplomat and human rights lawyer who served in the Clinton and Obama administrations, defended his stance, saying: “What AIPAC is demanding is just blind, blank check support for the current [Israeli] Prime Minister
“I don’t think this is what many pro-Israel Jewish Americans want. [what] Most Israelis want to,” he said.
The winner of the Democratic primary will face Joe Hathaway, the only Republican running in the state’s April 16 special general election for Randolph Township Mayor.
