Live updates and results on District 11 race
Voters 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.
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.
4:09 pm ET
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.
4:09 pm ET
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.
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